Passionist International Bulletin

6
The Curia Informs
NEW
MISSIONARY
CHALLENGES
Congress in Papua New Guinea (PNG)
Not long after ordination I volunteered for the
new Passionist Mission to be founded in Vanimo,
Papua New Guinea, in the Pacific islands. I served
there ten years, being the first missionary to
live among the stone age people in the districts
where I founded three missions. Those were the
early days, full of enthusiasm, full of a hope to
overcome all obstacles. We walked great distances
over mountains and rivers; we planted the
Christian community with practically no physical
resources.
Our buildings
were made of
sticks and leaves.
We left behind
schools, hospitals,
churches
and airfields.
Last September
I had the
opportunity to go
back, renewing
my acquaintance
with people in
the villages
where I was the
first messenger
of the Gospel 40
years ago, Ossima,
Wasengla and Kamberatoro. The reunions
were both happy and sad. Happy to see old
friends, sad to find that most of the people I knew
have already died, and sad to see so many sick
people, adults and children, sad to see so little
progress in education, in health and development
in those remote parts of the country, sad to see
people in some villages discouraged and demoralized.
It was sad too to see that our
Congregation can no longer find enough missionaries
to staff any of the inland parishes of
Vanimo Diocese.
I was present to see how deeply PNG affected
The Superior General in Papua New Guinea
Fr. Jefferies Foale, C.P.
Father Ottaviano, our Superior General. He
appeared to fall in love with the people and the
country. He wanted to know why Papua New
Guinea had been kept a secret for so long. I know
that he gave much encouragement to our brethren
there.
I attended the Papua New Guinea Vicariate
Congress in February. It is an interesting time for
the Vicariate, as it faces many difficulties, but
strong signs of hope too. There are sixteen religious
serving in
the Vicariate, two
priests, two Brothers,
a professed
student and three
novices from Papua
New Guinea,
two priests from
Indonesia, one
priest from the
Philippines, and
three Brothers
and five priests
from the mother
Province in
Australia and
New Zealand.
The new Regional
Vicar is
Father Tony Egar,
First Consultor is Phil Smith and the Second
Consultor is Valensius Son. Valensius is a missionary
from Indonesia who has served two years
in PNG.
New Missionary Challenges
While in Florida for a General Council meeting
in January I was able to attend a meeting of
the charitable trust, “St Paul de la Croix”, initiated
by Theresa Luu. The trust has supported charitable
works in Vietnam and other Passionist
projects. Father John Schork CP, Superior of the
Harlem Avenue Community in Chicago, has joined
the board, and together we hope to expand