Pope Francis speaks during an interreligious meeting with religious leaders at the Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta on 5 September 2024. Photo: AFP / Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana
Papua New Guinea is preparing to roll out the red carpet for the head of the Catholic Church Pope Francis' arrival on Friday.
It has been 30 years since a Pope stepped foot on the South Pacific nation. The last visit by a Pope to PNG was John Paul II in 1995.
The visit is part of an 11-day, multi-country papal trip, where Pope Francis will travel to capital Port Moresby and Vanimo from 6 to 9 September.
More than 37,000 people have already registered to attend Sunday Mass and there is a major focus on giving unemployed youth "hope" amid a backdrop of high unemployment rates "and a worsening drug crisis".
Meanwhile, there may be some bumps on the road for people travelling to Port Moresby due to ongoing fuel shortages which may disrupt domestic travel, including air travel at short notice.
Security has been bolstered with up to 4000 people being trained to provide police support for street control, which will no doubt come into play when the Pope travels across the capital in a motorcade and stops to meet with "street children".
Chairman of the organising committee Bishop Rozario Menezes said this will be his sixth time meeting the Pope.
"Every time I meet him, I thank him for his leadership and inspiration. He is a witness to the Gospel."
The Pope is 87, going on 88 years old, and has pressed on despite some health challenges this year.
"I want to especially make this effort to thank him for coming. He has had health issues. At this age, it's his longest trip [to] Asia and Oceania."
Pope Francis is expected to meet Prime Minister James Marape, thousands of street children, Bishops and Priests as well as some Pacific nation leaders.
The four-day trip will conclude with school children lined up along the road to the airport to bid farewell to the Pope.
Vanimo community visit
The Pope will also be visiting Vanimo, which was considered to be "one of the poorest areas", according to the Bishop Rozario.
People are expected to travel across the border of Indonesia and PNG to the small town of Vanimo near Jaipura to witness the Pope.
"He will be the only Pope going to Vanimo. For us it was the most difficult part to organise security and logistics."
It may be possible that the Pope speaks on the issue of West Papua, he said, something the Catholic Church has previously been vocal on.
Message to youth
So far, in Indonesia, climate change and geopolitics have been the Pope's agenda.
But the Catholic Church in PNG hopes a special message will be delivered to the youth of the nation.
"I am hoping the message of Pope Francis will give new hope and new vision. So, they can restart and find some meaning in their own lives," he said.
There were up to 18,000 youth enrolled in a Youth Festival Program which the church hoped would ensure and uplift its large youthful population.
"We have more youth than anywhere I think," he said.
PNG's population is estimated to about 11 million, and the most recent census has been marred with challenges.
The population is protected to [https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/508130/compulsory-service-suggested-for-papua-new-guinea-s-youth
increase by more than 20 million] in the next decade and a half.
Bishop Menezes said the Youth Festival would inspire the young people of the country, after riots and looting swept across Papua New Guinea's cities in January, and some of the blame was put on out-of-work youth.
Marape, at the time, had a message for young people and enlisted the help of the Church to bring them [https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/507045/marape-plans-to-mobilise-the-youths-post-png-riots
'back on the straight and narrow'].
"I want to appeal to every young Papua New Guinean child out there…talk to your church. Go to your church," he said.