A pilgrimage walk was executed over the Easter Weekend, to celebrate 80 years since the first Catholic Missionaries arrived to evangelize in Chimbu, and Western Highlands Province.
Over 500 catholics, 3 priest and 9 seminarians walked from Madang through Simbu, and arrived in Mt Hagen yesterday.
Most of the pilgrims reflected that it was a perfect spiritual exercise, to strengthen their faiths, and feel the similar challenges of the first missionaries as they entered the highlands region.
Archbishop of Mt. Hagen, Douglas Young, welcomed the pilgrims back, describing it as a sign of a family walking together and sharing the Gospel, as a Church.
The first missionaries’ sole purpose was to evangelize the people, but services like Education and Health, seem necessary in order to evangelize meaningfully. Thus Schools and Health services were established since then.
This has contributed to the development of the region. And today about 40% of the health and education services in the highlands, is provided by the Catholic Church.
It took over two weeks for the catholics to walk and complete the route.
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