By Anthony Barich
YOUNG Franciscan Fr Lukasz Kwiatkowski joined the Order as he was drawn to its founder’s connection with nature. He’ll get plenty of it when he embarks on his first mission to Papua New Guinea, a 26km hike to the nearest airport.
Fr Lukasz, 29, ordaind two years ago in Krakow, arrived in Perth last month just prior to the Maylands Franciscan Polish community’s special 1 May celebrations for the beatification of the Polish Pope, John Paul II.
On 30 May he will arrive in PNG and, depending on the weather, will trek 26km through jungle to a remote church named after the late Pontiff, built by Fr Piotr Rzucidlo OFM who will accompany him on the trip.
Fr Lukasz will work for a number of months in the Sandoun Province in PNG’s north west with Fr Piotr, who will help him with inculturation and to acclimatise for a few months; then it’s just him and three other New Guinean Franciscan Friars. Franciscans have worked there since World War II.
These New Guinean Friars are the fruit of the Franciscans’ missionary work. The first ordination of locally-produced vocations was in 1984, during the pontificate of Pope John Paul II.
Fr Lukasz could be there 10 months; or 10 years. Such is the life of a missionary called to serve God through the instructions and life of his Religious Order.
Fr Piotr, now 42, was on his own for most of the 10 years he spent in Nuku between 1998 and 2008, because the other Franciscan who volunteered as a missionary to the PNG outpost went home after a few months.
Not a few missionaries have returned home after initially volunteering in a blaze of good intentions. Fr Lukasz admits he’s scared, but is confident that God will give him the strength to endure.
Fr Piotr, now 42, stayed those 10 long years because he always wanted to be a Franciscan missionary since he was a young boy watching Pope John Paul II on the television in Communist-repressed Poland.
More than that, he drew strength from the many elements that have driven lesser men back home, including malaria.
“I had fear, but I drew strength from it. I knew that if God wanted me to stay, He would give me support – and, sure enough, it came.”
This included material support. The Polish community in Perth based at Maylands and at St Brigid’s in Northbridge raised $5,000. He also raised $10,000 from Poland for the mission.
While Franciscan life on the biggest island in the Pacific Ocean is rightly simple and poor, and the sun setting over the “beautiful greenery” takes one’s breath away, life is far from idyllic.
“It’s like stepping back in time – like Jurassic Park,” Fr Piotr told The Record. “We missionaries face many problems. We lack communication and transport; we who live in the bush eat mostly native food and we go hungry sometimes and often lack protein.”
But when he goes to town – another long hike – he buys tinned fish, meat and other supplies. Transport is tough and, if it’s been raining, it’s not uncommon for the car to get bogged; then they’re on foot.
“We have many different kinds of pests, like mosquitoes, snakes, rats, crocodiles, lizards, centipedes, tree kangaroos and many different kinds of birds,” he told a special Mass at Our Lady Queen of Poland Chapel in Maylands on 22 May to send off the two missionaries.
“The most dangerous of them and life-threatening are mosquitoes and snakes. Mosquitoes bring malaria, the biggest killer in the bush, and of course there are other tropical diseases that could strike at any time.”
Water is always a problem and there’s no electricity, which gets tough in tropical weather where humidity tests the spirit. The only way of accessing water is in long bamboos that the women carry down to the mountain stream each day.
This was hard work for the women, so the Franciscan missionaries tried to solve the water problem by building a priest house and a building that serves as a parish hall, church and school using iron sheets on the roof, off which the rain water runs into a water tank for the priest and the people.
But amidst the danger, life is rewarding. When they arrive it will be Pentecost – a major feast. And when there’s a feast, the Mass is accompanied by passionate music and dance. After the liturgy the Friars enjoy Bung Kaikai – a big meal – with all parishioners from each village contributing pigs, chickens, fish, sweet potatoes and fruits.
“The people love God and love us as missionaries because we bring Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, so they go to church every Sunday; they have a sense of sin. Our modern world can learn a lot from these people, especially about simplicity and hospitality,” Fr Piotr said.
While Fr Lukasz isn’t sure how he’ll handle the culture shock, as “Poland has become very western and people have everything they need”, Fr Piotr said it doesn’t matter how long a missionary priest stays.
“Even if you stay a few days, you have celebrated the Eucharist. That is the most important thing,” Fr Piotr said.