By Fidelis Sukina – EMTV News, Port Moresby
Churches play an important role in Papua New Guinea, and the Catholic Church has long since established schools and hospitals under each of their congregation and orders.
Clergymen and woman, priests, brothers, and nuns, have been working in the forefront to provide education and health services and provide support in those areas in rural areas, a congregation of nuns founded in PNG celebrated 100 years of existence in PNG helping in health and education.
The Catholic Church has been in Papua New Guinea for the past 130 years and accounts for about 2 million followers.
On Saturday, the congregation of nuns from the Handmaids of the Lord (Ancilla Domini) AD sisters founded in Papua New Guinea, celebrated 100 years.
They have been in Papua New Guinea since 1918, after their establishment by vicar apostolic Archbishop of then Papua Bishop Marie Guynot founded the mission on 8th April 1918.
The sisters celebrated the Holy Eucharist at the Don Bosco Technical Institute cathedral yesterday, a host of Priests, Bishops, and clergymen and woman attended with the main celebrant, Cardinal John Ribat.
The Sisters vocation has been to help in pastoral work, they visit the sick and give Holy Communion and help the needy that has been so since their first profession on November 30th, 1920.
They have been helping as nurses in hospitals and retirement homes, orphanages and opened schools and provided, Religious Education, and looked after the church grounds and the sacristy.
They are located in Port Moresby at the Noblet convent named after their first ever mother superior Marie Threse Noblet, where they have an elementary school and child minding center, they are also along the Laloki river at Nazareth, where the Old sisters of the order live.
They have been in Goilala for 92 years at Kerau and Tapini, they started in Kubuna in Bereina where they still reside, and they are in Western Province, Kiunga and Daru, Milne Bay at Ladava in Alotau, in Aitape West Sepik and Purani in Southern Highlands Province.
They use to work on a retirement home on Thursday Island but it has since been closed but they have a presence in Australia.
Mother Superior Sister Mary was great full for the support by donors that keep their vocation alive to this day.
Their families and congregation ended the day with lunch and entertainment by the sisters and parishioners, celebrating their lifelong devotion to helping the people of PNG as nurses, teachers, and keepers of the faith
