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"May God bless Papua New Guinea.
May his peace descend on your beautiful islands,
your great rivers, high mountains and deep valleys;
may it rest on your volcanoes and fill your blue seas.
And may the love of Christ abide in your hearts
and your homes, today and for ever."
Pope John Paul Blessing at Jackson's Airport, May 7, 1984
RNDMs in Papua New Guinea
The number of RNDM communities in are NIL... we all live either intercongregationally, or in premises belonging to the diocese or St. Fidelis College.
We number just four RNDM's in the region - coming from various provinces of origin - New Zealand, Ireland, England.
There is one community at Kagua, Southern Highlands Province.
1. Maureen Dwan - who is a co-director
of the Diocesan Pastoral Centre. She lives on the premises alone.
Her co-worker is a Swiss sister, who lives in her own
community house in the town.
2. Marie Lawlor - who lives intercongregationally with an American
congregation of Franciscans. She is
located in the Southern Highlands, also Mendi
Diocese, in a place called Kagua, which would roughly be about 70-80kms from Mendi town,
into the bush area of the region.
3. Carmel Looby - is from Ireland and will join Marie Lawlor in Kagua,
for pastoral ministry.
4. Rose Mary Harbinson - There is no longer any RNDM presence at St.
Fidelis College, Madang. Sr. Harbinson will return in May 2002, to teach in the
Major Seminary, Port Moresby, the National Capital.
APOSTOLATES (WORKS) INVOLVED IN
In the Southern Highlands:
Pastoral Work - involving the teaching and guidance of catechists and church
leaders, both men and women. Direction and coordinating courses for various groups
at diocesan and local levels. Preparing guidelines and materials, both visual and
written, for study and parish work - in Tok Pisin and English mainly for grassroot
leaders.
Working and accompanying a Diocesan Local Religious Congregation of Sisters -
mainly in Pastoral ministry and assisting in Vocation Promotion Skills for their
congregation.
Being engaged in Women's Groups and various levels of Literacy
Living intercongregationally and witnessing to community and working alongside both
male and female co-workers from various communities and cultures.
On the Coast:
We are engaged mainly in teaching young men who are aspiring to priesthood or ministry
within the church. We offer a feminine aspect to their academic and spiritual
formation - as we are the only women on staff.
Our academic commitments would be - mainly English and Scriptural Studies.
For a number of years, the music and liturgical life of the college has been the
responsibility of an RNDM - this involves various forms of inculturation, education, and
application of creative expressions of dance and song that embraces a Melanesian
Spirituality.
The sisters here live in a staff house, but share life with a lay and religious community
of Capuchins.
Kagua – Jubilee
2000 Gates
Holy Doors. A Bible Seminar group has
just finished their programme
The Easter
baptisms in 2000 were held in the new baptistery in the Kagua parish church.
Report
from Mendi, Papua-New
Sister
Lukas Suess from
Report from Papua-New Guinea – Education with a difference <from Sister Rose Mary Harbinson>
The students at St Fidelis College, Madang, are now able to read
daily events from
around PNG and the world – photocopied from journals and newspapers and posted on
their Information Notice Board.
Thanks to the Solidarity Fund (UK) we were able to buy a new heavy duty, reliable photocopier, as a resource to produce texts for examination classes. Funds for textbooks and equipment in our college are non-existent.
A special thanks to Mr and Mrs McKeown (Belfast), who through their own missionary zeal and work for RNDM Solidarity, helped to raise this particular donation.
For more info on PNG opportunities contact :
Rose Mary <mdwan@dg.com.pg>
