Sept. 8 (UPI) — Pope Francis visited the small town of Vanimo in Papua New Guinea after delivering mass to more than 35,000 people in the capital of Port Moresby on Sunday.
In his message, the pontiff said he wants to “break down distances.” Vanimo is on a peninsula in Papua New Guinea’s remote northwest coast, close to the border with Indonesia.
The pope’s arrival coincided with a ton of humanitarian aid and toys that would be delivered by missionaries from his home country of Argentina.
The visit to Vanimo comes on the heels of his first stop in Papua New Guinea where he called for better care for Indigenous populations. He began his tour Friday and thanked Papua New Guinea officials for the work they are doing in their country as part of a formal address.
“You are doing something beautiful, and it is important that you are not left alone,” Francis told the crowd in Vanimo, which the Vatican estimated at 20,000, in a meeting outside the town’s one-story, wood-paneled cathedral parish.
“You live in a magnificent land, enriched by a great variety of plants and birds,” the pope continued. “The beauty of the landscape is matched by the beauty of a community where people love one another.”
The town of Vanimo came to a standstill as a result of the pontiff’s visit, with onlookers lining the streets. Nuns dressed in bright blue and white habits were at the front of the line and greeted Francis when he arrived. Shops and roads were closed for his three-hour visit.
The pope used his mass earlier Sunday in Port Moresby to tell the crowd that he wanted to bolster the church’s presence and strength on the “peripheries,” expressing concerns that residents in outlying areas may feel distant from both their faith and the church, but told them that God was near to them, the Vatican said.
“When we look to ourselves, we realize that there is an even more beautiful sight: that which grows in us when we love one another,” the Pope said in the Vanimo speech. “Indeed, our mission is precisely to spread the beauty of the Gospel of Christ everywhere through loving God and our brothers and sisters.”
The New Guinea stop is the second in a four-nation, 11-day tour of southeast Asia. He will go next to East Timor on Monday, and to Singapore on Thursday. His trip started in Indonesia.
