Pope Francis visited missionaries and members of the public in one of the most remote outposts of the Catholic Church on Sunday.

During his third day in the Pacific state of Papua New Guinea, the 87-year-old went to the small town of Vánimo on the north coast, home to some 10,000 people and a Catholic mission.

Upon his arrival in Vánimo the pope was greeted by more than 30,000 believers.

He delivered remarks centred on the importance of environmental stewardship.

Earlier on Sunday, the head of the Catholic Church held Mass in front of tens of thousands of believers in a football stadium in the capital Port Moresby.

He urged people to go to the “periphery” to the edges of geography and society.

Papua New Guinea is sometimes seen as a “far-flung country on the edge of the world,” he noted, adding: “Let us open ourselves to the faith of the Church.”

In this way we will be able to communicate with one another and build a different society, also in Papua New Guinea.”

Papua New Guinea has vast reserves of minerals and resources including gold, copper and natural gas.

In spite of that, the majority of the population of around 10 million lives below the poverty line and there are practically no road connections between the capital and the rest of the country.

Planes were chartered for the pope’s visit to Vánimo.

Over the past few days, people in the remote region – where many have neither running water nor electricity – have been making journeys to see the pontiff there.

Papua New Guinea is the pope’s second stop in the longest trip abroad of his tenure so far. Only a quarter of the country’s population is Catholic.

The trip started in Indonesia and is taking him to four countries in South-East Asia and Oceania over 12 days.

He will next head to East Timor on Monday and then Singapore. 

(dpa/NAN)