Pope Francis to receive Argentine welcome in remote Papua New Guinea town

PORT MORESBY (Reuters) - Pope Francis will arrive in one of the world's most remote Catholic communities in Papua New Guinea on Sunday to something approaching home – a group of Argentine missionaries who plan to welcome him with a steaming cup of "mate", a traditional South American herbal drink.

The 87-year-old pontiff, originally from Buenos Aires, is on a 12-day tour of Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore in part aimed at spurring global action on climate change.

His three-day Papua New Guinea leg is capped by an afternoon visit to Vanimo, a town of around 14,000 near the border with Indonesia. The town is inaccessible by road from much of the country and authorities have had to ship the Pope’s car by barge from the capital Port Moresby.

Pope Francis is visiting Vanimo partly due to the presence of Argentinian missionary group the Institute of the Incarnate Word, which has a presence in the Vanimo diocese.

Father Agustin Prado, one of the missionaries, said the relationship between Vanimo and the Vatican began after his brother, Father Martin, led a group of parishioners to Rome in 2019.

They had an audience with the Pope, and kept in touch through Vatican officials, sharing photos and videos of the missionaries’ work there.

Vatican officials have told the missionaries Francis is keen to meet privately in their residence, where he will be offered "mate", a popular caffeinated drink in Argentina used in social occasions, Prado said.

“For us it’s a big blessing. We are working, in a material way, preparing everything, but especially in a spiritual way, to be ready to meet him,” he said.

Pope Francis, a former nightclub bouncer in the Argentine capital before joining the priesthood, has previously been spotted drinking "mate" offered by well-wishers on several occasions.

ISOLATION

Vanimo is a simple town, with two supermarkets, two gas stations and a hospital, Prado said.

“It is a very poor town, not too much development,” he said. “Everything has to come by ship. It takes a lot of time.”

Cars and fuel for the Papal entourage have been shipped ahead by the Papua New Guinea Defence Force, while the Pope will travel by Australian Defence Force plane to cater for the wheelchair he increasingly uses due to knee and back pain, said Father Lawrence Arockiaraj, general coordinator of the visit committee.

Margaret Vella, a Sydney-based fundraiser for the Vanimo diocese who has made half a dozen trips since first visiting in 2012, said locals were often reliant on the Church for education and other basic needs.

She has sent regular shipments to the small but devout Catholic community, including paint, water tanks and one occasion, casks of wine for a convent of Argentine nuns also stationed there.

“It's not a big Catholic community, (but) when you go to Mass there of a morning, the churches are packed,” she said.

Pope Francis’ visit will also take in an outdoor address on a sports field where tens of thousands are expected to attend, many transported with the aid of local logging companies.

Prado estimates there are around 20,000 to 30,000 Catholics in the diocese, though the number could be considerably higher, he said.

Missionaries sometimes had to walk through dense forest for days to preach to remote communities, he added.

“People here are very simple, but at the same time, they are very sensitive to the faith, and now they know that the Pope is coming to visit them, they are very excited.”

(Reporting by Alasdair Pal in Sydney and Joshua McElwee in Port Moresby; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)