Deported Catholic Missionary, Douglas Tennent will return to his home in Kokopo this afternoon.
Tennent arrived in Port Moresby yesterday and was welcomed by members of the PNG Catholic Fraternity at the Jacksons International Airport.
Archbishop of Rabaul, Fr. Francisco Panfilo says the archdiocese of Rabaul, and the entire Catholic fraternity in Papua New Guinea has been looking forward to “Doug’s return”.
“There is a lot of unfinished work that Doug needs to finish. I am happy he will be back,” Archbishop Panfilo said.
Mr Tennent, from New Zealand, was deported from Papua New Guinea on the 12th of June by officers from the Office of the Immigration and Citizenship Service Authority.
The immigration office claimed that Mr Tennent has breached his work permit.
Mr Tennent came to the Archdiocese of Rabaul as a lay missionary with an Entry Permit “Special Exemption/Religious Worker”.
In the Archdiocese, he served as the Administrator.
He was served with the Notice of Cancellation of Entry Permit and Direction as to Custody and Removal Order, which were signed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration.
A stay order obtained from the Kokopo National Court by the Rabaul Catholic Archdiocese was summoned to the Immigration office not to deport Mr Tennent.
The immigration office refused the stay order.
Last month, the National court in Kokopo, yet again, issued another court order, demanding the immigration office to return Mr Tennent into the country within two weeks.
This afternoon, the Catholic Archdiocese of Rabaul will welcome him back to his home at Vunapope.
