Catholic Church in Papua New Guinea

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The Catholic Church in Papua New Guinea is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. Papua New Guinea has approximately two million Catholic adherents, approximately 27% of the country's total population. [1]

Contents

The country is divided into nineteen dioceses including four archdioceses.

History

Colonial times

The first Catholic mass was celebrated on the Louisiade Islands, probably Sideia Island, by the chaplain to Torres's expedition in 1606. [2]

The Italian missionary Fr Giovanni Battista Mazzucconi was martyred on Woodlark Island in Milne Bay Province in 1845.

German missionaries of the Society of the Divine Word founded missions on the Sepik River and northern coastal areas from the 1890s. [3] [4] The Prefecture Apostolic of Kaiserwilhelmsland comprised some twelve mission stations along the northern coast. Bishop Louis Couppé had success in East New Britain and acted against the indigenous slave trade. [5] Five male missionaries and five nuns were massacred in the Baining region of New Britain in 1904, leading to reprisals by the German colonial authorities. [6] The Catholic mission and cathedral at Alexishafen near Madang were destroyed by American bombing in 1943 but the mission was rebuilt after the War. [7]

Many Rabaul Chinese were Catholic. St Theresa's Yang Ching School was founded there in 1924. [8]

In 1995, Pope John Paul II beatified Peter To Rot, a catechist and New Guinea native from New Britain blessed for his martyrdom when in 1945 he refused to embrace polygamy and was killed by occupying Japanese forces. [9] Many other local Catholics and missionaries suffered death, torture and imprisonment at the hands of the Japanese. [10] [11] [12] Forty-five missionaries were massacred on the Japanese destroyer Akikaze in 1943. [13]

In Papua, the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart began a mission at Yule Island in 1885. [14] Bishop Alain de Boismenu, Vicar Apostolic of Papua from 1908 to 1945, established missionary and charitable activities based on the mission at Yule Island. He was assisted by Filipino catechists. [15] In 1918 he founded an indigenous order of nuns, the Handmaids of the Lord, which is still active. [16] The French mystic and visionary Marie-Thérèse Augustine Noblet (fr), whom de Boismenu exorcised in France in 1921, accompanied him to Papua and assisted at the mission until her death in 1930. Noblet acted as mentor to the first indigenous priest and bishop from Papua New Guinea, Louis Vangeke. Her story made a profound spiritual impression on the Australian poet James McAuley, who visited Yule Island in 1949 and converted to Catholicism. [17]

Fr William Ross accompanied early expeditions of the Leahy brothers to the Highlands and established a mission at Mount Hagen in 1934. [18]

A Marist mission on Bougainville, beginning in 1901, was very successful and the majority of the population became Catholic. [19] Bishop Thomas Wade secured strong support for the mission from Australia and the United States. The Japanese occupation caused major disruption, including the presumed execution of three Australian Marist Brothers by the Japanese. [20] Expansion was rapid after the War, with schools constructed in Chabai and Kieta. [21]

In 1967 the Australian ophthalmologist, Fr Frank Flynn, was appointed as Administrator of the Cathedral and Director of Catholic Health Services in Papua New Guinea. His efforts led to the foundation of a Medical Faculty at the University of Papua New Guinea. [22] Nuns, especially those of the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, were very active in providing local health services. [23] The mission hospitals developed into Catholic Church Health Services, which in 2016 ran five rural hospitals and 244 health facilities. [24]

Since independence

Pope John Paul II visited Papua New Guinea in 1984 and 1995. [25]

Catholics prominent in Papua New Guinea politics include Michael Somare, John Momis (who was a priest for many years) and Bernard Narokobi.

The Divine Word University at Madang was established by Act of Parliament in 1996.

John Ribat, the Archbishop of Port Moresby since 2008, was created the first cardinal from Papua New Guinea in 2016. [26]

Social issues of current concern to the Church include domestic violence and sorcery [27] and climate change. [28]

Pope Francis will visit Papua New Guinea from 6 to 9 September 2024. [29]

See also

Literature

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References

  1. ↑ The World Factbook
  2. ↑ Lamport, Mark A. (2018). Encyclopedia of Christianity in the Global South, vol. 2. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield. p. 617. ISBN   9781442271579.
  3. ↑ Huber, Mary Taylor (1987). "Constituting the Church: Catholic Missionaries on the Sepik Frontier". American Ethnologist. 14 (1): 107–125. doi:10.1525/ae.1987.14.1.02a00070. JSTOR   645636.
  4. ↑ Hempenstall, Peter J (1975). "The Reception of European Missions in the German Pacific Empire: The New Guinea Experience". Journal of Pacific History. 10 (1): 46–64. doi:10.1080/00223347508572265.
  5. ↑ Hempenstall, Peter J (1978). Pacific Islanders Under German Rule. Canberra: ANU Press. p. 137. ISBN   9781921934322.
  6. ↑ "Dutch missionaries among ten casualties in 1904 Papua killing spree". goDutch.com. 2010. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  7. ↑ "Alexishafen Catholic Mission". Pacific Wrecks. 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  8. ↑ Chow, Sylvia, ed. (2007). Sacred Heart School: For the sake of the children. Kedron, Qld: Sacred Heart School Reunion Committee. ISBN   9780646476490.
  9. ↑ Susan Brinkmann (December 5, 2008). "The Greatest Story Never Told: Modern Christian Martyrdom". The Catholic Standard and Times. Archived from the original on 2008-12-08. Retrieved 2008-12-09.
  10. ↑ Hunter, Claire (14 Sep 2020). "'It was a real labour of love'". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 17 Sep 2020.
  11. ↑ "Berenice Twohill, Prisoner of the Japanese". Australians at War Film Archive. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  12. ↑ "Ted Harris MSC, 80th anniversary of his self-sacrifice". Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. 20 Dec 2022. Retrieved 21 Dec 2022.
  13. ↑ Nolan, Malachy J (2017). "Death and displacement: Catholic missionaries in New Guinea in World War 2". Australasian Catholic Record. 94 (1): 45–54.
  14. ↑ Sr Antoninus (1985). "Birds of paradise and drums that announce Christ's peace". Annals Australasia . Archived from the original on 7 September 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  15. ↑ Castro-Salle, Florence (6 September 2015). "The early Filipino missionaries & boat builder Francis Castro". PNG Attitude. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  16. ↑ Awikiak, Glenda (November 29, 2018). "Catholic sisters celebrate 100 years of mission to PNG". The National. Port Moresby. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  17. ↑ Page, Jean (2016). "Land of Apocalypse – James McAuley's encounter with the Spirit: the French Catholic Mission of the Sacred Heart, Kubuna, New Guinea" (PDF). Journal of the Australian Catholic Historical Society. 37 (1): 18–31. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
  18. ↑ Mennis, Mary R (2002). "Ross, William Anthony (1895–1973)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  19. ↑ Laracy, Hugh (2015). "Imperium in imperio? The Catholic Church in Bougainville". In Regan, Anthony J (ed.). Bougainville Before the Conflict. ANU Press. pp. 125–135. ISBN   9781921934247. JSTOR   j.ctt1bgzbgg.16.
  20. ↑ Dennis, Noel (1993). "Heroic Marist Brothers martyred in the Solomons". Annals Australasia . Archived from the original on 2015-09-07. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  21. ↑ Momis, Elizabeth Ibua (2015). "The Church's role in development in Bougainville". Tok Pisin English Dictionary. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  22. ↑ Gibson, Eve (2015). "MSC history: Fr Frank Flynn". Missionaries of the Sacred Heart Australia. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  23. ↑ J. Lamb, This is mission life: memories of mission: Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Journal of the Australian Catholic Historical Society, 37 (1) (2016) Archived 2017-02-02 at the Wayback Machine , 106-115.
  24. ↑ Ewart, Richard (22 March 2016). "Church health service cuts in PNG to affect rural communities the most". ABC Radio Australia: Pacific Beat. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  25. ↑ "Pope St John Paul II's 2nd Apostolic Visit to Papua New Guinea". TotusTuus. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  26. ↑ "RIBAT Card. John, M.S.C." Vatican Press Office: Documentation. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  27. ↑ Cavanaugh, Ray (March 4, 2017). "Papua New Guinea: Unique challenges face some of the world's most isolated Catholics". Catholic World Report. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  28. ↑ Sadowski, Dennis (March 15, 2018). "Climate change is top priority for Cardinal Ribat of Papua New Guinea". America: The Jesuit Review. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  29. ↑ "Pope Francis to Visit Papua New Guinea in September". PNG National Information Centre. 21 April 2024. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
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