PAPUA NEW GUINEA - Cardinal Tagle at Bougainville Jubilee: “Faith arrived here through the celebration of the Eucharist”

by Marie-Lucile Kubacki

Buka (Fides News Agency) – “This is truly a local event, but local that is open to the universe.” With these words, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization and Special Envoy of Pope Leo XIV, summed up the meaning of the 125th anniversary of the arrival of the Catholic faith in Bougainville. Presiding over the Jubilee Mass at Our Lady of the Assumption Cathedral in Hahela, on Buka Island, the Cardinal invited the local Church to renew its missionary commitment, to strengthen communion beyond ethnic and social differences, and to seek the Kingdom of God above every other concern.

The celebration brought together faithful from the North, East, West, South and Central regions of Bougainville, together with bishops, priests, religious and lay people from other local Churches. Cardinal Tagle also conveyed the greetings and blessing of Pope Leo XIV. “When I told him I was coming to Bougainville for this celebration, he said: ‘Oh, Bougainville. Please convey to them my closeness, my blessings, my greetings’,” the Cardinal said.

The Jubilee recalls the first Mass celebrated on August 7, 1901, on Ahok-Ahok Island by two missionary priests, Fathers Peter Mayer and Eugene Ender. “The Christian faith arrived here through the celebration of the Eucharist,” Cardinal Tagle observed. “I can imagine that 125 years ago there was no crowd, no assembly like this. It must have been just the two missionaries and their few companions. And look, after 125 years: not only people from Bougainville, but people from other parts of the world are here.”

The Diocese of Bougainville, which also marks 60 years since its establishment, today gathers more than 200,000 faithful in 35 parishes. Its history bears the marks of missionary beginnings, of the service of lay catechists, of the upheavals of the Second World War and of the wounds caused by the Bougainville crisis. Yet the Jubilee has made visible a Church that has taken root in the local population and is called to assume ever more fully its own mission and responsibility.

In his homily, Cardinal Tagle noted that the readings proclaimed at the Jubilee Mass were the same biblical texts heard during the first Eucharistic celebration 125 years earlier. “These were the first words from Scripture that were proclaimed here in Bougainville,” he said. “Our hearts are moved with gratitude. God has been faithful.” The Cardinal invited the faithful to receive again those first Gospel words as a call for the present: “Seek first the Kingdom of God. Serve God.”

Reflecting on the Gospel warning that no one can serve two masters, Cardinal Tagle stressed that the “many kings and queens” competing for human allegiance often reveal themselves through anxiety. “By our worries, our anxieties, we discover the kings and queens governing us,” he said. Concern for appearance, possessions or status can lead people to forget those who are poorer or more vulnerable. In contrast, the Kingdom of God is founded not on fear but on trust: “It is not worrying; it is faith, trusting. God will take care of us for our good.”

The Cardinal underlined that seeking God’s Kingdom does not mean withdrawing from work, study or daily responsibilities. Rather, he said, believers are called to place their energies, talents and work at the service of justice. “The justice of God is his truth. It is about loving, respecting people, caring for nature and creation, and sharing the goods of the earth and the seas with others.” The just person, he added, does not steal, exploit or deceive others.

The Eucharist, the Cardinal continued, is the source and model of this unity. Addressing also the many faithful gathered outside the cathedral, he said: “You may be outside, but you are part of the living Body of Christ celebrating this moment of grace today. The walls are not real walls. We are one today and forever.” Drawing on Saint Paul’s words, he recalled that in Christ believers are “no longer strangers to one another.” “The walls separating you are gone in Christ,” he said. “In Jesus there is no more distinction of ethnic groups, clans, tribes, rich or poor, educated or not educated. We are one family in Jesus.” Such unity begins with the acknowledgment, made at the beginning of every Mass, that all are sinners in need of God’s mercy.

Cardinal Tagle’s appeal echoed a challenge that is particularly significant in Papua New Guinea, a country of more than 800 languages and strong tribal identities. The local Church has often been a place where people from different backgrounds meet as one family, contributing to reconciliation and national unity through parish life, schools, health centres and peacebuilding initiatives. The Cardinal called Christian families to become “small churches,” marked by mutual forgiveness, blessing and attentive listening to the Word of God. He urged them not to allow digital media and other distractions to replace the shared hearing of Scripture. He also linked Eucharistic spirituality with ordinary labour: the fruits of the earth and human work, brought to the altar, become by the Spirit the Body and Blood of Christ. “Even in our ordinary life, let your work be the presence of Christ,” he said.

At the end of the Eucharistic celebration, Cardinal Tagle returned to the missionary character of the Mass. “‘Go, the Mass is ended’: go, that is mission,” he said. “What you have heard in the Word of God, what you have received, what you have touched, go and share with others.” He asked the Church in Bougainville to bring the experience of the Eucharist into homes, neighbourhoods and villages, transmitting the faith to future generations. “We hope for the celebration of the 500th anniversary of evangelization in Bougainville,” the Cardinal said. “But that depends not only on the blessing of the Lord, but also on our responsibility, our duty to spread the Good News.” He concluded by inviting the faithful to tell one another: “You are blessed by the Lord. You are truly blessed.”

Cardinal Tagle concluded his three-day pastoral visit to Papua New Guinea with a final Mass on Monday evening at Mary Queen of the Pacific Parish in Waigani, Port Moresby, celebrated with members of the Bougainville community living and working in the capital. Archbishop Maurizio Bravi, Apostolic Nuncio to Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands, Bishop Jacek Tendej of Alotau, Bishop Paul Sundu of Kundiawa and Fr. Lawrence Arockiaraj, Secretary General of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference, concelebrated. The church was filled with faithful, including members of the Filipino community and former Autonomous Region of Bougainville President Dr. John Momis and his wife. The Cardinal departed from Jacksons International Airport for Manila, on his way to Rome.
(Fides News Agency, 18/8/2026)

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