Diocese of Lae in Papua New Guinea Celebrates 50 Years

The Catholic Diocese of Lae in Morobe, Papua New Guinea celebrated its golden anniversary earlier this month. The historical celebration took place at St. Mary’s Primary School grounds.

The joyful milestone was punctuated by various cultural representations and was witnessed by thousands of faithful from the diocese, well-wishers from the region as well as visitors from outside PNG.

The Apostolic Nuncio of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, Archbishop Kurian Matthew Vayalunkal was the main celebrant and several PNG Bishops and priests concelebrated the Holy Eucharist. The Nuncio solemnly blessed the diocese and its people and paid special gratitude to missionaries of the past and present for the fruit of their labour visible in Morobe Province.

“We are gathered here to remember the 50th anniversary of our Diocese of Lae. This is the right occasion to remember the history of the Church in our country, PNG. We rejoice, we give praise, and we go forth,” said the Apostolic Nuncio, during the homily.

Bishop Christian Blouin of the Diocese of Lae’s also gave thanks to the pioneers of the diocese saying, “four pioneers  must be acknowledged at this occasion. Fr. Anthony Mulderink, one of the four pioneers who was  there present to witness the occasion was thanked along with his pioneer-brothers of Mariannhill for their work.  He also extended this gratitude to the people of PNG for their good will; friends of the diocese overseas, for being helpful to the diocese and all people who have contributed in making the Diocese of Lae become what it is to this day.

The Vicar General of the Diocese, Fr. Arnold Schmitt observed that the main work of the early missionaries was education and the formation of Catholic Christian families and they have continued to do that by reading the signs of the time.  He added that the growing number of street kids is worrying and that they are trying to find ways of addressing that as well as the many other new challenges.

The existence of the Catholic Church in Morobe Province goes back to the time of the gold rush in Wau and Bulolo in 1927. However, the existence of the Diocese of Lae began with the mandate of Pope John XXIII on 18 June 1959 when the newly erected Vicariate of Lae was entrusted to the Congregation of the Missionaries of Mariannhill (CMM). The number of diocesan inhabitants was about 187,000. Of these, approximately 1,750 were Catholics.

Among the first priorities of the newly established Vicariate of Lae was education. The first Missionary Sisters of the Precious Blood arrived in June 1962 and later other international congregations arrived and serve in the field of pastoral, social work and education.

In a nutshell, the Diocese of Lae has grown from modest beginnings with less than 2,000 Catholics to more than 30, 000 at present.  As it celebrates 50 years of erection and as new pastoral challenges arise, the Diocese of Lae looks forward to new approaches of evangelising, proclaiming, sanctifying and serving the Melanesian Missionary Church in Oceania.( Fr. Brian Nonde CMM)