On September 6, Pope Francis will land in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea (PNG), the second stop on his eleven-day trip to Oceania. He will already have been in Indonesia. After three days in PNG, he will continue to Timor Leste and Singapore. It's a daunting trip for a person of any age but a more admirable one because our Pontiff is 87 years young.

When the Holy Father first inquired how long it would take to travel directly from Rome to Port Moresby, he was apparently taken aback by the answer from Bishop Don Lippert, OFM Cap, of Mendi, PNG: "About two days."

And yes, that's by air. It's the original story of, 'You can't get there from here!'

The Holy Father will not only be in the capital city but will travel to a tiny place called Vanino on the northwestern edge of PNG. When I tried to calculate the distance between Bishop Don's Diocese of Mendi and Vanimo, the Maps app showed that there was no direct way to drive -- a flight was necessary due to the lack of infrastructure in the country.

This wasn't too much of a surprise as my mission travels in 2019 in the Southern Highlands were on roads that were treacherous, covered in truck-swallowing holes, and gave me plenty of opportunities to pray my rosary. I was grateful when the Sister who traveled with us pointed out to our driver that I probably didn't need to hear every time we rounded a corner about where a bus had gone off a cliff or where a small plane had crashed into the mountainside.

In Vanimo, as in Mendi, the Pontifical Mission Societies, the Holy Father's own mission aid Societies, are not only responsible for the support of the day-to-day operation of the small diocese but also support individual projects; we give scholarships to seminarians, provide much needed vehicles for Sisters serving the rural population, and help to maintain the Lujan Girls Schools, one of the places on Pope Francis' visiting itinerary.

PNG's Catholics are praying that while he is in their country, Pope Francis will announce the canonization of their only native person on the path to sainthood, Blessed Peter To Rot. As a married catechist, Blessed Peter was entrusted with the faith formation of his village by missionaries as they were expelled during World War II. Arrested for his teaching, he was killed by his jailers to keep him silent.

Blessed Peter To Rot was beatified in 1995. His canonization would be a faith strengthening moment for all on the path to Christ in Papua New Guinea. Let's join them in prayer for this happy occasion.



- Maureen Crowley Heil is Director of Programs and Development for the Pontifical Mission Societies, Boston.