New Church for upper Mendi Parish
- Rosemary Yambune
Port Moresby: More than a hundred catholic faithful within the Upper Mendi parish can now celebrate Eucharist with their priest, inside the newly opened St Joseph Ekari church building, in Upper Mendi, Southern Highlands province.
The blessing of the church was given by Bishop of Mendi, Bp Donald Lippert on September 10th, 2020, in Apua Nene, Upper Mendi. During the occasion, nine parishioners also received the sacrament of Confirmation from Bp Donald.
The parish is located 45km from the Kundiawa town which took almost 7 months of tireless efforts from the catholic faithful, the locals, and other religious brothers and sisters present.
Clerk of the church committee Mr. Paul Kombur applauded the efforts and cooperation of the remote community together with parish priest Fr Alberto Dawas who shepherded the lot.
“We used to celebrate mass in a hut that cannot house everyone comfortably, but now we are very happy with the new church building,” Mr. Kombur said.
The idea to erect a proper church building for everyone to worship, initiated by the diocesan priest from Africa, Fr Alberto Dawas.
More than a hundred people from the local community gathered to witness the opening ceremony of the church five days before the nation's Independence Day.
The program begins with welcome dance and singsong by the locals to the Bp Donald Lippert and religious, continued with opening remarks, followed by the Eucharistic Mass, the blessing of the church, homily, and the receiving of confirmation sacrament everyone later gathered for light refreshment.
