By Anthony Barich
PERTH’S Polish Catholic community contributed over $5,000 to build what may well be the world’s first church named after Pope John Paul II.
Franciscan missionary Fr Piotre Rzucidlo, who spent 10 years in Papua New Guinea, raised $30,000 from Poland and $5,000 from Polish Catholics in Maylands to build the church in Ymut, Papua New Guinea.
The church was opened and dedicated to John Paul II in 2007 by Aitape Bishop Austen Crapp OFM, who headed a team of 124 mission workers: priests, Brothers, Sisters and lay volunteers. The Bishop, who grew up in NSW, is now retired to a parish in Townsville.
Fr Piotre spent a year building the church with locals in a remote village in high grass that has no road access.
He sourced building materials first from Lae, PNG’s industrial centre, transporting it by boat to Wewak, the capital of PNG’s East Sepik province; then by truck to Nuku, the main local station, then by four-wheel drive to the Ymut village.
Ymut is only accessible with thorough preparation – first beat a path through the kunai, or high grass, that surrounds the village, and traverse a river with no bridge on the way from Nuku.
This entails hauling a four-wheel drive across the water using ropes and other materials with brute manpower.
It was all worth it, Fr Piotre said, and the locals willingly helped out, as they also have a special love and pride for John Paul II, the ‘pilgrim Pope’.
He visited the country once as Cardinal and twice as Pope – the last time in 2005 to beatify the country’s first saint. Catechist Peter to Rot, the World Youth Day Sydney 2008 patron, was martyred by lethal injection by the Japanese army in 1945.
“The Papua New Guineans were very enthusiastic about the project. They knew John Paul II very well and were very proud of him, as he had beatified their first saint. He was very enthusiastic about them and they welcomed him very warmly,” Fr Piotre said.
Churches in the area are not just for worship, they also serve the dual purpose as meeting rooms and schools.
The local parish of Nuku-Wati-Ymut has up to 4,000 Catholics, cared for by Franciscan Friars.