Pope Francis addressed vulnerable communities in Papua New Guinea, emphasizing the unique value of every person and encouraging continued efforts to serve those in need, despite challenges. He started at the Caritas Technical Secondary School in Port Moresby, meeting some students as well as children who were living on the streets and children and adults with disabilities who are assisted by the Callan Services network.
Clemens, who cannot hear and signed while his sister, Genevieve, spoke, said to the pope, "Holy Father, I would like to ask you, first: Why do we have to suffer with our disability? Two: Why am I not able like others? Three: Why this suffering? Four: Is there hope for us, too? A young girl said that just having the meeting showed how much the pope loves the street children, "even though we are not productive, sometimes we are troublemakers, we roam around the streets and become a burden for others.
Calling the children's questions "challenging," the pope responded that every person is unique, and each has talents and difficulties, but God has a mission for each person based on loving others and knowing how to accept love. Pope Francis ended the afternoon at the city's Shrine of Mary Help of Christians by listening to churchworkers share the joys and challenges of their ministries, including efforts to help people -- usually women or children -- who endure torture and even face death after being accused of witchcraft.
But, she said, "today she is working in our team standing up for human rights and the dignity and equality of women. She witnesses to the importance of love and forgiveness among all people. Father Emmanuel Moku, a self-described "late vocation" who was ordained 12 years ago at the age of 52, told the pope that "my clan expects a man to become a father and to work and feed his people.
As a seminarian, I was therefore viewed as unfruitful. This made me feel hopeless. But after ordination his family was proud to have a priest in the clan, he said. Grace Wrakia, a laywoman who is a member of the Synod of Bishops on synodality, told the pope that she is not sure how long it will take for the church in Papua New Guinea to become truly synodal. Pope Francis encouraged all of them to hold fast and keep trying, inspired by the missionaries who arrived in Papua New Guinea in the mids.
