Caracas, Venezuela, 23 August, 2024 / 7:30 pm (ACI Africa).
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, amissionary 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 that 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.
