Caracas, Venezuela, Aug 23, 2024 / 06:30 am
The first Catholic missionaries arrived in Papua New Guinea just 70 years ago. In a place where the faith is so recent, Father Martin Prado, a missionary of the Institute of the Incarnate Word (IVE) who does pastoral work in the country, highlighted the conversions that occur “through very simple things that reflect that it is God who is behind it.”
Pope Francis will visit Papua New Guinea as part of an apostolic journey that will take place Sept. 2–13 in Oceania and will also take him to Indonesia, East Timor, and Singapore.
In an interview with the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Prado, who has been in the country for 10 years, explained that the faith of the locals is “a youthful faith from which I learn a lot.”
“The faith of Christians here is very much alive and very simple,” he said.
However, Prado noted that “the Indigenous spirituality is still very influential, which makes it difficult for them to achieve a full understanding of Christianity,” adding that “there is a strong commitment here to ancestral and cultural traditions that are not compatible with the Gospel.”
“The spiritual beliefs and superstitions are persistent and sometimes get mixed up with the Catholic faith. Our work, as missionaries, is to help Christians to understand that these things do not go together and try to effect change,” he explained.
His work, he continued, bears fruit, and many of the locals manage to discern on their own between what is false and what is true “despite not being able to read or having had any sort of sophisticated formation.”
“Nonetheless, when you don’t take care of your spiritual life, or live for others, it becomes very easy to be influenced by superstition and superficial elements,” he added.
The importance of the papal visit
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According to Prado, news of the pope’s trip “was greeted with great surprise and joy by everyone,” but he noted that due to the limited access to the news and social media on the island, few were aware the pope was coming.
“We are all very excited and working hard to be able to welcome the pope as best as we can, despite the simplicity and poverty in which we live,” he said.
Regarding the pastoral fruits of the visit, the missionary said he hopes that the faith and spiritual life of believers will be strengthened, highlighting that people are preparing with great enthusiasm for the arrival of Pope Francis by praying the rosary every night.
In addition, the local Church has organized talks, hymns, some dances, and times for confession in which thousands of people have participated. “It was very moving,” the priest commented.
“People are looking forward to the Holy Father’s arrival with enthusiasm and excitement, and awaiting the encounter with the Lord which they so desire,” he shared.
The challenge of youth
“Young people do not have models to follow or serve as inspiration, and only a few have the support and accompaniment of their parents to commit to their spouses for life. Forming good families is a challenge, but we see that, little by little, things begin to change,” the priest emphasized.
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Prado encouraged Catholics around the world to pray for the country, for the local population, and for the pope’s trip. He also asked the faithful to pray a lot for Papuan missionaries and vocations to the priesthood, “which is what really can lead to change.”
“In 2019, we started a group to pray for vocations, and since then the number of priests has doubled. We have started to see local vocations, which we had never had before. We already have three seminarians and two novices,” he concluded.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
