PORT MORESBY: Pope Francis is set to visit one of the most remote outposts of the Catholic Church on Sunday, reported German news agency (dpa).
During his stay in the Pacific state of Papua New Guinea, the 87-year-old was expected to visit the small town of Vánimo on the north coast, home to some 10,000 inhabitants. The area, almost 15,000 kilometres from Rome, used to be a German colony.
Earlier on Sunday, the head of the Catholic Church held mass in front of tens of thousands of believers in a football stadium in the capital Port Moresby.
Papua New Guinea has vast reserves of minerals and resources including gold, copper and natural gas. Despite that, the majority of the population of 10 million lives below the poverty line and there are practically no road connections between the capital and the rest of the country.
Planes were chartered for the pope’s visit to Vánimo, which is home to a Catholic mission. Over the past few days, people in the remote region have been making the journey to see the pontiff.
Papua New Guinea is the pope’s second stop in the longest trip abroad of his tenure so far. Only a quarter of the country’s population is Catholic.
The trip started in Indonesia and is taking him to four countries in Southeast Asia and Oceania over 12 days. He will next head to East Timor and Singapore.
-- BERNAMA-dpa
