Skip to content
The Catholic Leader
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute
No Result
View All Result
The Catholic Leader
No Result
View All Result
Home News Australia

PNG WYD pilgrims travel from “remote communities” to thank generous donor

byMark Bowling
21 July 2016 - Updated on 1 April 2021
Reading Time: 2 mins read
AA
PNG Pilgrims

Blessed: Capuchin Father John Spiteri welcomes the PNG pilgrims to Wynnum’s Guardian Angels’ Church. Photo: Carlo Piloto

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
PNG Pilgrims
Blessed: Capuchin Father John Spiteri welcomes the PNG pilgrims to Wynnum’s Guardian Angels’ Church.
Photo: Carlo Piloto

A GROUP of 20 Poland-bound pilgrims from Papua New Guinea used a two-day stopover in Brisbane to say thank-you for supporting their journey to World Youth Day.

For most of the pilgrims it is the first time travelling outside their remote communities. 

Last month The Catholic Leader featured a story about the PNG pilgrims – the remoteness, poverty and hardship of their lives, and their difficulty in raising money for their once-in-a-lifetime trip to see Pope Francis in Poland. 

An anonymous reader donated $10,000 to cover their final travel costs, and they have received other generous donations of warm clothes and sleeping bags from some Brisbane parishes.

“I thank the Lord for working in his own ways. He has been working in so many ways,” pilgrim Fatima Jerome, a 24-year-old nurse from Alotau, Milne Bay province, said.

“It is something for my life that I have never seen before.

“The Lord is calling me to experience something greater for my life.”

Ten of the pilgrims are from Alotau, nine from from Mount Hagen – including a 34-year-old priest – and one from Wewak.

During a two-day stopover in Brisbane, the pilgrims stayed with Brisbane families and attended Mass at Wynnum’s Guardian Angels’ Church where they received a blessing from Capuchin Father John Spiteri – to “go forth and proclaim the mercy and love of Christ”.

Victor Raymond, 24,  from Alotau, described travelling to Poland as the biggest adventure of his life. 

Related Stories

Jesus renews love for life and brings forth hope, Pope Francis says

Nun is honoured for holding her ground in the face of security forces

Vinnies Queensland asks for support as temperatures plummet and calls for help set to spike

The first-leg flight to Brisbane was his first time on a plane.

“I believe God wants me to go and meet him. Not only to meet him, God wants me to be a witness for him,” he said.

“I left school in Grade 10. I didn’t continue because I failed. So seeing myself as a failure I really saw my life as unworthy of anything. I joined a lot of bad groups – I even joined a criminal gang and a cult group.

“Then I was picked for a youth leadership group in the Church, and after everything was done they appointed me the youth leader for Alotau, but I still didn’t know anything about the Church. 

“I think my trip to Poland is to have a strong foundation of faith.” 

Alotau missionary and teacher Sarah Bunting, a member of the Neocatechumenal Way in the Guardian Angels’ parish, is leading the PNG pilgrims to Poland.

She described their trip from remote Alotau to Poland, the homeland of St John Paul II as a “a sign of hope”.

“As Christians, they have believed in the word of mercy they have received from the Church and the promise that it offers to transform their lives,” she said.

“St John Paul II visited Papua New Guinea in 1984, and is held in high esteem. The youth have heard many stories from their elders who fondly remember the pope’s visit.”

By Mark Bowling

ShareTweet
Previous Post

Security paramount for WYD pilgrims say Church leaders

Next Post

Timor Leste veteran returns to confront his past

Mark Bowling

Mark is the joint winner of the Australian Variety Club 2000 Heart Award for his radio news reporting in East Timor, and has also won a Walkley award, Australia’s most-respected journalism award. Mark is the author of ‘Running Amok’ that chronicles his time as a foreign correspondent juggling news deadlines and the demands of being a husband and father. Mark is married with four children.

Related Posts

Leave behind personal securities to follow God, says Francis
Vatican

Jesus renews love for life and brings forth hope, Pope Francis says

3 May 2022
Nun is honoured for holding her ground in the face of security forces
News

Nun is honoured for holding her ground in the face of security forces

8 December 2021
Helping hand: Vinnies’ Brisbane president Trish McMahon and her team are expecting a surge in requests for help.
QLD

Vinnies Queensland asks for support as temperatures plummet and calls for help set to spike

7 June 2021
Next Post
Timor Leste troops

Timor Leste veteran returns to confront his past

Brisbane woman "pain-free" after 21 years of suffering

Abortion effects

Accurate data essential for psychological abortion assistance

Popular News

  • Performer: Liza is a trained gymnast and contortionist and has enjoyed performing at St Eugene College.

    Young Ukrainian performer settles into new life in Brisbane school

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Abdallah family deliver powerful Vatican speech

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Federal and state parliamentarians encourage pro-life Queenslanders at March for Life rally

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Catholics need better understanding of the Mass, Pope says in follow-up letter to Traditionis Custodes

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Christianity still top, but numbers decline amidst a secular shift

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
Search our job finder
No Result
View All Result

Latest News

Braving the cold: Caloundra Unity College Principal Daniel McShea ,Our Lady of the Rosary College Principal Dr Michael Stewart and Caloundra priest Fr Joshua Whitehead.

Fr Josh braves ‘freezing’ June night to raise awareness for homelessness at Vinnies Sleepout

by Hannah Kennelly
30 June 2022
0

WHEN asked if this year’s CEO Vinnies Sleepout was easier than the last, Caloundra priest Fr Joshua...

Catholics need better understanding of the Mass, Pope says in follow-up letter to Traditionis Custodes

Catholics need better understanding of the Mass, Pope says in follow-up letter to Traditionis Custodes

30 June 2022
Performer: Liza is a trained gymnast and contortionist and has enjoyed performing at St Eugene College.

Young Ukrainian performer settles into new life in Brisbane school

29 June 2022
Secret baptisms show how Christians still persecuted worldwide

Secret baptisms show how Christians still persecuted worldwide

29 June 2022
Tragedy: Debra Ponce, left, and Angelita Olvera of San Antonio mourn near the scene where dozens of immigrants were found dead inside a trailer truck a day earlier on June 28. Photo: CNS

Pope Francis asks for prayers after 50 migrants found dead in Texas trailer truck

29 June 2022

Never miss a story. Sign up to the Weekly Round-Up
eNewsletter now to receive headlines directly in your email.

Sign up to eNews
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Jobs
  • Subscribe

The Catholic Leader is an Australian award-winning Catholic newspaper that has been published by the Archdiocese of Brisbane since 1929. Our journalism seeks to provide a full, accurate and balanced Catholic perspective of local, national and international news while upholding the dignity of the human person.

Copyright © All Rights Reserved The Catholic Leader
Accessibility Information | Privacy Policy | Archdiocese of Brisbane

The Catholic Leader acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the First Peoples of this country and especially acknowledge the traditional owners on whose lands we live and work throughout the Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute

Copyright © All Rights Reserved The Catholic Leader

0
    0
    Your Cart
    Your cart is emptyChoose another Subscription
    Continue Shopping