Tongan Cardinal heading to Rome, as PNG Church thanks Pope

Tonga’s vicar general, Msgr Lutoviko Finau, was scheduled to visit the Royal Palace in Tonga on April 23 to formally inform the King of the passing of the Pope. He said that this visit to the palace is on a “diplomatic level between the relationship of Rome and Tonga”.

Msgr Finau was also scheduled to officially communicate the news to government and Christian leaders in Tonga.

The Roman Catholic Church in Tongatapu will hold a Requiem Mass for the Pope at the Immaculate Conception of Mary Cathedral, in Ma’ufanga, on the date of the Pope’s funeral, said the vicar general. Meanwhile, congregations in the outer islands will arrange their own Masses.

Cardinal Mafi is a member of the College of Cardinals and is eligible to vote in a conclave to elect the new pontiff.

Meanwhile, the Catholic Church in Papua New Guinea has expressed gratitude to Pope Francis for the special attention he paid to the country by clearing the way for its first saint.

Last month, he issued a decree that Peter To Rot, a lay preacher killed during the Japanese occupation of PNG during World War II, would be canonised. Pope Francis also appointed the first Papua New Guinean cardinal, Cardinal John Ribat, and visited the country last September.

The Bishop of Lae, Bishop Rozario Menezes, said that Francis was a great example to the country’s 2.5 million Catholics.

“He really touched the hearts of all the people here in Papua New Guinea,” he said. “We are very sad that he is not the one who is proclaiming him (Peter To Rot) as a saint . . . but we are very grateful that he has given us these gifts, a first cardinal, a first saint.”

FULL STORY

Cardinal Mafi flies to Rome for Pope’s funeral (By Katalina Siasau/Matangitonga)

PNG Catholics grateful to Pope Francis for first Saint and Cardinal – ABC Pacific (ABC)