On Thursday, August 22, as part of their two-week orientation in preparation for the Congregation of Holy Cross’s new Holy Family Mission to the Diocese of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea, the eight pioneering missionaries visited the Dicastery of Evangelization. It was this dicastery that recommended Papua New Guinea to the congregation for its new mission.

The week prior, on Tuesday, August 13, the missionaries had officially begun their orientation with a Mass presided by His Eminence Luis Cardinal Tagle, Pro-Prefect of the dicastery’s Section for the First Evangelization and New Particular Churches.

During the Mass, the cardinal thanked the Congregation for reaching out to the dicastery to discern its new missionary territory and spoke of how this process of mutual discernment could serve a model for the dicastery in its working with other congregations.

The eight missionaries were accompanied in their visit to the Dicastery for Evangelization by Br. Paul Bednarczyk, C.S.C., Superior General, Fr. Emmanuel Kallarackal, C.S.C., Vicar General and First Assistant, and Br. Adolf Mugume, C.S.C., Generalate Director of Communications.

Upon arriving to the dicastery, they were received and welcomed warmly by the Most Rev. Fortunatus Nwachukwu, Secretary of the Section of First Evangelization of the Dicastery for Evangelization. He gave the group a brief overview of the work of the dicastery and thanked them for their willingness to begin this new mission in Bougainville.

From there, the group met with Monsignor Augustine Han, an official in the Section of First Evangelization, who gave them a tour of the dicastery, which included a time of prayer in the dicastery’s chapel and veneration of one of two habits of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, who is Patroness of the Missions alongside St. Francis Xavier.

Then, in the hall where the dicastery holds its meetings, Monsignor Han explained more in depth about the work of the dicastery and the wider evangelizing mission of the Church. He emphasized the importance of learning the local culture and language to really be with and of the people.

The missionaries found the presentation of Monsignor Han and Archbishop Nwachukwu, as well as the wider visit to the Dicastery for Evangelization, to be very inspiring. It placed their new mission firmly in the wider mission of the Universal Church.

Learn more about the mission to Papua New Guinea

The missionaries’ orientation comes to a conclusion the evening of Friday, August 23. Fr. Kallarackal will preside at the Mass in the Notre Dame de Sainte-Croix Chapel at the Generalate, and Br. Bednarcyk will lead the commission rite for the missionaries.

The plan is for the new missionaries to begin arriving in Papua New Guinea before the end of the year. Preparing the way for them will be Pope Francis, who as part of his 45th apostolic journey abroad, will be visiting Papua New Guinea from September 6-9. The trip also includes Indonesia, Timor-Leste, and Singapore.