Visitors to the Holy Mass on 8 September 2024 at the Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby.
» Thanks to the help of ACN, we can bring the love of Christ to more people. « Father Martin Prado, project partner
Holy Mass with Pope Francis on 8 September 2024 at the Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby.
religious sisters, a myriad of different languages are spoken in Oceania’s largest and most populous country. Despite the difficult situation, the Church offers people guidance and supports them in all their needs. The priests and religious are usually confronted with immense social and pastoral problems. It is therefore a particular concern of ACN to support priests and religious through Mass stipends and subsistence aid. We also enable them to take part in spiritual retreats, fostering inner strength that enables them to sustain their demanding ministry. In addition, we regularly support the training of prospective priests. Moreover, during the reporting year, we were once again able to assist the local Church by providing vehicles for pastoral care that are capable of navigating what is often barely passable terrain.
In addition to the problems of the recent past, the country has been struggling with numerous social challenges for many years. Rapid technological progress, digitalisation and globalisation have also reached Papua New Guinea, leaving parts of the population feeling left behind and increasingly uprooted. There is also great economic hardship. The prices for many goods are disproportionately high, as the country has virtually no industry and many goods have to be imported. Although most people still live from subsistence farming and can feed themselves from what they grow, money continues to be scarce. For many, financing a school education is only possible at great sacrifice or is even unaffordable. The Church in Papua New Guinea is also facing major challenges, particularly with regard to pastoral work. Many parishes are extremely remote. The terrain in the rugged country is barely passable and there are only a few roads. To make matters worse for the priests and
Celebrating Mass in a new parish in the jungle of Sandaun Province.
ACN Activity Report 2024 | 89 Asia/Oceania – Papua New Guinea |
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