The View
Papua New Guinea
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The View
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Nation
Papua New Guinea, situated in the South Pacific north of Australia, is a land of stunning beauty and home to people of more than 1,000 tribes and languages. From tropical coasts to lush green highlands, Papua New Guinea fiercely guards its traditions while seeking its place in an increasingly encroaching modern world of cell phones and the internet. Though many of its people stay close to ancestral lands, young men and women search for more oportunities in larger town and cities.
Papua New Guinea has long been a hot spot for anthropologists and botanists. Now international attention is focused on its undeveloped resources of natural gas and a vast array of minerals. Many foreigners are descending on the nation to exploit those natural resources without much noticeable benefit to the people of this extremely poor nation. With enormous challenges in health care and education, Papua New Guinea struggles to meet the needs of its people.
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Mission Office
Highlands
The Southern Highlands
Until the 1950's, the remote interior of Papua New Guinea was inaccessible to westerners. The high mountains and deep ravines still form almost impassable barriers. Weather is often an obstacle to travel, as well; in some areas the annual rainfall is more than 200 inches.
In 1955 the brave Capuchin friars were given permission by the government to establish a mission to serve the Southern Highlands. There they found numerous tribes and languages and wonderful people who have embraced the faith. In some ways the people of the Southern Highlands have transformed the life of the friars and the province. The needs of the Church and people continue to challenge the missionaries.
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Mission Office
Ministries
Ministries in Papua New Guinea
Since the first days of the missions, ministry among the people of Papua New Guinea has evolved from telling the story of our salvation in Jesus Christ, heard for the first time in the Highlands, to maintaining and growing the Church, in its many parishes and services. Unlike the parishes of the US, parishes in the missions serve among people of many tribes and languages, and each parish is just the main station among many other sub-stations served by one pastor. It is a formidable task. Preaching, offering the sacraments, teaching about the Catholic faith, fostering faith in peoples' daily lives and being good managers of buildings and property is multiplied many times over in each parish.
The Church also has the best social services in the country, especially health care. Ministry among AIDS patients is growing due to the ever-spreading disease. The Church has been instrumental in establishing schools and training centers, encouraging and supporting small businesses, providing food to displaced persons in larger cities, and preparing young folks to become a new generation of leaders in the Church.
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Mission Office
Growth
Capuchin missionaries from the United States have successfully implanted the Order in Papua New Guinea. Young men from the island nation are becoming Capuchin friars to continue the good work begun by the missionaries. The work of training them for the present, future and growing responsibilities is a joyful and demanding task, full of many graces and blessings, and requiring our prayers and assistance. Already they are serving the people of the Southern Highands and beyond. Now and in the future, they are a growing Capuchin presence in the land of their birth.
Click HERE to meet the Capuchin friars from Papua New Guinea
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The View
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Mission Office
Mission Office
Capuchin Mission Office
For many years the Capuchin Mission Office, also known as the Seraphic Mass Association, has been the major supplier of needed funds to the Capuchin Missions. Without the generosity of benefactors, the Capuchin missions would not be possible. From the beginning of the friars' endeavors in Papua New Guinea, the Capuchin Mission Office has transformed the Southern Highlands, from funding hospitals to building air-strips, building churches and friaries, as well as training young New Guinean friars for Capuchin life and priestly ministry.
Father John Pfannenstiel, director of the Capuchin Mission Office, invites you to visit the Seraphic Mass Association website at www.seraphicmass.org.
Father Don Lippert is the director of formation for the young Capuchin friars of Papua New Guinea. In addition to teaching numerous courses at the seminary, he also helps with nearby parishes on weekends and is a well-known and loved presence among the growing number of settlers near the seminary on the outskirts of Port Moresby. These are the poorest of Papua New Guinea. Migrants from all over the nation come to the largest city to find employment and a way out of poverty.
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The View
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Mission Office
Capuchin Friars of the Province of St. Augustine • 220 37th Street • Pittsburgh PA 15201 412-682-6011
