Pope Francis arrives in Papua New Guinea during his Asia-Pacific trip

The Pope left the plane in a wheelchair and was met on the tarmac by Prime Minister James Marape and senior members of the country’s Catholic Church.

Children presented him with gifts while a military band played the Vatican anthem.

After the short ceremony at the airport, Francis went to the Vatican embassy for the evening.

His first public appearance in the country will be an address to political leaders on Saturday morning.

During his stay in Papua New Guinea, Francis will take a day trip to the northwestern town of Vanimo before leaving the country on Monday.

He will then visit East Timor and Singapore before returning to Rome on 13 September.

Francis is only the second Pope to visit Papua New Guinea, after Saint John Paul II landed there in 1984 during one of his long trips around the globe.

In Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country, Francis urged political leaders to guard against religious extremism.

The Pope also visited the Istiqlal Mosque, the largest in Southeast Asia, and signed a joint declaration with the national Grand Imam.

The declaration calls on Catholics and Muslims to take “decisive action” to urge world leaders to address the dangers of climate change.

Global warming is expected to remain a theme during the Pope’s visit to Papua New Guinea, where leaders blame climate change for a series of natural disasters, including a landslide in March that killed at least 2,000 people.

During his eleven-year term in office, the Pope has repeatedly stressed the importance of environmental issues.

With the flight on Friday, the Pope will have covered around 16,000 kilometers on his longest overseas trip to date.

By the time he returns to Rome, he will have covered almost 33,000 km.

with AP