Pope Francis has arrived in New Guinea

Parish community in jungle region of Alotau Diocese with Bishop Rolando C Santos. © ACN

Source: Vatican Media

Pope Francis has arrived in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. His Indonesia Airlines plane touched down at 19:10 local time on Friday 6 September, beginning the second leg of his 45th Apostolic Journey abroad.

He will be spending three days in this large but sparsely inhabited nation of thundering rivers and waterfalls, snow-capped mountains, spouting volcanoes, thick forests and beautiful ocean.

The country, which is home to some of the world's last uncontacted tribes, is placed right on one of the planet's tectonic plates, and earthquakes and landslides are almost commonplace, while the lack of infrastructure in the more remote areas can pose serious challenges to rescuers and medics if disaster strikes, and even to simple travellers exploring the nation.

But Pope Francis is undeterred by challenges and determined to share the faith in person with the some 2.5 million Catholics who live here, including those in the remote town of Vanimo on the northwest coast, where a group of mostly Argentinean missionaries share his mission never to exclude what he calls the "geographical and existential peripheries" of our world.

Catholics from across the country have been arriving to the capital city in large groups. Given the lack of roads, many of them from more remote areas had to walk for days to get here.

Pope Francis' packed schedule for Papua New Guinea includes meetings with government officials, local authorities and diplomats; and with children in street situations and those with disabilities.

He will also pay a visit to the Shrine of Mary, Help of Christians, where he will meet with the Bishops of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands, and with priests, deacons, consecrated men and women, seminarians and catechists.

On Sunday morning, the Pope will celebrate Holy Mass with the faithful at Sir John Guise Stadium, which has been teeming with activity during these last few days as final preparations are made.

Also on Sunday, he will fly to Vanimo, in northwestern Papua New Guinea where he will meet the faithful and a group of missionaries before returning to Port Moresby in the evening. The Holy Father will conclude the second stage of his Apostolic Journey with a meeting with young people on Monday morning.

The last time a Pope travelled to this island country was in 1995, when Saint John Paul II came for the beatification of Peter To Rot, a Papuan lay catechist who was martyred during the Second World War for teaching the Catholic faith.