Stop in Papua New Guinea – between piety, violence and superstition

While still on the tarmac in Port Moresby, the Pope was greeted on Friday by districts in Papua New Guinea that particularly need his protection: women from the Mekeo tribe – dressed in traditional clothing and adorned with face paint – welcomed the head of the Catholic Church.

Women have a particularly difficult life in Papua New Guinea. More than two thirds are victims of domestic violence, and sexual violence is also omnipresent. It is not for nothing that Human Rights Watch wrote in a report: “Papua New Guinea remains one of the most dangerous places for women and girls.” In his first address on site, Pope Francis actually deviated from his prepared script. As if he wanted to teach the men a lesson, he said: “Let us not forget women, who are at the forefront of human and spiritual development.”

“He goes to the poor and vulnerable”

After his visit to Indonesia, the head of the Catholic Church is now touring the countries that, according to Pope expert Joel Hodge, are particularly dear to his heart: the desperately poor nations of Papua New Guinea and East Timor, which share their islands with Indonesian provinces. “In a way, he is doing what he has always talked about, namely going to the peripheries,” says Hodge, a theologian at the Australian Catholic University. “He is going to the poor and vulnerable.” In Papua New Guinea, the Pope also sought to be close to the people. He took the time to greet many people personally and to hand out sweets to the children.

The hope is that his visit will not only improve the situation of women in the country, but also bring about more peace in this ethnically divided nation, many of whom live at subsistence level despite the country’s large reserves of raw materials. According to Statista, the gross domestic product per capita last year was just over 2500 US dollars. The approximately ten million people who live scattered across the mainland and the 600 islands belong to hundreds of ethnic groups and speak over 800 different languages. And these groups do not really live together peacefully. Just in January, looters and rioters roamed the streets of Port Moresby, killing more than a dozen people. In the highlands, however, rival tribes are at war with one another. At the beginning of the year, there were regular massacres there, leaving dozens dead. Even after a devastating landslide at the end of May, leaving hundreds dead, the fighting did not stop.

Confused beliefs

Since around 98 percent are Christians, of which around 25 percent are Catholics, many could be open to the Pope’s message of peace. However, people’s faith is as complex as the country’s ethnic groups. No one is a better example of this than the country’s Prime Minister, James Marape, who, for example, as the son of a Seventh-day Adventist, adheres to the Christian faith, but on the other hand also follows the traditions of his indigenous tribe. Photos of him in a loincloth and exotic headdress circulate on the Internet, as does his closeness to Judaism. As soon as the Sabbath, the seventh day of the week in Judaism, approaches, he is “at peace,” he wrote on Facebook in 2020.

The extent to which Christian beliefs continue to mix with animistic convictions and indigenous customs is also evident in the highlands, where belief in witchcraft and sorcery is widespread. This superstition repeatedly leads to deadly excesses that cost the lives of women in particular. The confusing web of beliefs also explains why the Catholic Church continues to send missionaries to Papua New Guinea. The Pontiff visited some of them – priests from Argentina, Pope Francis’ homeland – on Sunday.

On the front lines of the climate crisis

In addition to economic and social problems, Papua New Guinea is also a nation that frequently faces natural disasters: volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and landslides, such as the one in May, are regular occurrences because the country lies on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, where several tectonic plates meet. In addition, Papua New Guinea is often exposed to heavy rainfall and thus erosion.

Global warming in recent decades has significantly exacerbated the situation in the country. The island state, which is one of many in the Asia-Pacific region affected by rising sea levels and more and more violent storms, was the starting point for the Pope to seek a conversation about climate change. At the end of August he posted on his Instagram account: “Let us pray together that each of us hears the cry of the earth and the victims of environmental disasters and the climate crisis with our hearts and makes a personal commitment to care for the world in which we live.”

In East Timor, the Pope is caught up in the controversies of the Church

On Monday, the trip continues to the former Portuguese colony of East Timor, where the Pope will celebrate a mass on the same beach promenade where Pope John Paul II held a liturgy in 1989. Francis’ predecessor was once credited with bringing the bloody period of occupation by Indonesia, which cost around 100,000 lives between 1975 and 1999, into the global spotlight. East Timor, which covers half of the island of Timor north of Australia, is still extremely poor today, but its approximately 1.5 million inhabitants are extremely devout Catholics. Over 97 percent belong to the Catholic Church. Only in the Vatican is this number higher.

But it is precisely in East Timor, which is loyal to the Vatican, that Francis will have to deal with a well-known problem of the Church – sexual abuse by clergy. Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo, who won the Nobel Peace Prize, is said to have sexually abused boys in the 1990s, while an American missionary in the country is accused of abusing young girls. And the problems are not just in the past: just a few days ago, the New York Times published a report accusing the Church of having “deported” more than 30 Catholic priests and missionaries to remote island states such as East Timor and Papua New Guinea in recent decades after it was accused of abusing children in the West.