Pope Francis visits remote town in Papua New Guinea

Pope Francis visited one of the most remote outposts of the Catholic Church on Sunday. 

On the third day of his trip to the Pacific state of Papua New Guinea, the 87-year-old traveled to the town of Vanimo, a surfing destination and former German colony.

The town has a population of 10,000 and lies on the north coast, near Papua New Guinea's border with Indonesia. 

The head of the Catholic Church arrived with humanitarian aid, medicine, clothes and toys for the faithful there, a Vatican spokesperson said.

He was greeted by an estimated 20,000 people on a field in front of the Vanimo cathedral, where he also put on a feathered head dress. There were singers and dancers who performed to welcome him.

Francis spoke about church workers and also urged followers to inculcate peace and avoid tribal conflict. This would help "to drive out fear, superstition and magic from people's hearts, to put an end to destructive behaviors such as violence, infidelity, exploitation, alcohol and drug abuse, evils which imprison and take away the happiness of so many of our brothers and sisters, even in this country," he said.

He was referring to tribal violence in the country due to disputes over land and issues. He also urged people to put an end to gender-based violence.

Mass in Port Moresby

On Sunday morning, the pope celebrated Mass at a football stadium in the capital, Port Moresby, which was attended by about 35,000. He urged people in the country nation "at the edge of the world" to come closer to the faith.

The event began with a traditional performance of dancers in grass skirts and feathered headdresses dancing to drum music.

"You who live on this large island in the Pacific Ocean may sometimes have thought of yourselves as a far away and distant land situated at the edge of the world. Yet today the Lord wants to draw near to you, to break down distances, to let you know that you are at the center of his heart and that each one of you is important to him," Francis told the attendees.

"I think too of the marginalized and wounded, both morally and physically, by prejudice and superstition sometimes to the point of having to risk their lives," the pope added.

Peripheries trip

Papua New Guinea has very little road connectivity from the capital to other parts of the country. The pope traveled to Vanimo in a chartered Royal Australian Air Force C-130 plane. 

Francis has previously said the church of the "peripheries" is more important than the center. He has preferred visits to far-away communities rather than European capitals.

Papua New Guinea has a population of around 10 million, out of which 2.5 million are Catholics, according to Vatican statistics. They practice Christianity along with local beliefs, rites and rituals.

This is the second stop of his longest trip abroad so far. He started with Indonesia and is visiting four other countries in Southeast Asia and Oceania. His next stops are East Timor and Singapore.

tg/sms (dpa, AFP, AP)