San Francisco Frontiers - Papua New Guinea prepares for rare papal visit

Once-dusty roads in the capital Port Moresby have been swept, street hawkers cleared away and yellow-and-white flags of the Holy See strung from lamp posts, where they flutter under the warm breeze of the Coral Sea.

The pontiff will spend his time in one of the Pacific's poorest and most troubled nations addressing bishops, meeting street children and holding mass for tens of thousands of his flock.

Among the thousands already gathered is a group of 43 pilgrims who travelled for weeks by foot from the north coast to the south, traversing dense jungle and the formidable central cordillera.

They came from Morobe to the capital, according to the Catholic Bishops Conference of Papua New Guinea, a journey of more than 200 kilometres (125 miles) as the crow flies.

The pilgrimage was less arduous for others, but no less transformative.

Sophie Balbal travelled from the island of New Britain to represent a group of mothers.

"This is my very first time in my life to travel on a plane and to come to Port Moresby," she told AFP excitedly.

"Whatever message he passes on to us, I will try my best to pass it on to my fellow mothers, all the mamas in our parish."

It is the second leg of the 87-year-old pontiff's 12-day Asia-Pacific tour and seen as a "blessing" for the country, according to Philip Gibbs, a New Zealand-born priest who arrived in Papua New Guinea as a missionary 50 years ago.

"That's the way that it's being talked about. I think that's a good way of looking at it," said Gibbs, now president of the Divine Word University.

- Social ills -

While Papua New Guinea is devoutly Christian, it also suffers from rampant domestic abuse, bloody witch hunts, and murderous tribal violence that has seen thousands killed and tens of thousands displaced.

Human Rights Watch has dubbed the country "one of the most dangerous places to be a woman or girl", and by some measures 80 percent of women have been subjected to violence by their partners.

In the country's Highlands, false accusations of sorcery frequently prompt violent witchhunts that kill or maim victims.

The under-resourced police and the government have struggled to make a difference.

For Gibbs and many others, the pope's visit is a golden opportunity to tackle these issues head-on.

"The bishops have made sure that he's been briefed on that, definitely," he told AFP. "I'm quite confident that it will come into one of his speeches."

For many in Papua New Guinea, the church brings healthcare, education and welfare.

But the relationship between church and state may also be one of the more contentious issues facing the pope on his visit.

- Church and state -

An estimated 98 percent of Papua New Guineans are Christian and about 25 percent are Catholic.

But those figures belie the rich blend of beliefs and customs in a nation that has more than 850 distinctive ethnolinguistic groups.

Many Papua New Guineans believe deeply in a Christian god as well as a panoply of animist beliefs that sit alongside still-strong Indigenous customs.

That blended identity is embodied in Prime Minister James Marape, the son of a Seventh-day Adventist preacher, and a leader who rarely answers his phone on the Saturday Sabbath.

Marape is also a leader of the Huli people, one of Papua New Guinea's largest Highland tribes.

He has said Christianity defines the nation, while proudly donning his tribe's ceremonial loincloths and its distinctive bicorned wig made from the owner's own hair and adorned with the feathers of exotic birds.

The Pope's visit is likely to rekindle debate about changing Papua New Guinea's constitution, making it an explicitly Christian nation.

The country's constitution reflects both facets of the country, with a promise to safeguard its "noble traditions and the Christian principles that are ours now".

H.King--SFF