By TARA CONNOLLY Staff writer
“We must pray for true repentance, changes of minds and changes of heart so Lent will be a fruitful blessing in the Church,” said Cardinal John Ribat, archbishop of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, March 24 at Holy Family, Nazareth.
Cardinal Ribat, the first member of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to be named a cardinal, celebrated Mass at the parish, which has been served by MSC priests for most of its history.
Bishop of Allentown Alfred Schlert was the principal concelebrant. Concelebrants were Father Joseph Tobias, pastor; Father Richard Kennedy, USA Provincial Superior of MSC, Aurora, Illinois; and visiting priests.
Cardinal Ribat, who was named a cardinal of Papua New Guinea in 2016 by Pope Francis, is under age 80 and eligible to vote in papal conclaves. He told the faithful how he received the news of his new appointment.
After conferring the sacrament of confirmation at a local parish, he said he returned home to rest, only to get a call from a nuncio telling him he was on his way to see him.
“I immediately started to wonder what I did wrong,” said Cardinal Ribat.
The nuncio and then-Bishop Ribat discussed diocesan business before he learned Pope Francis had named him one of 17 new cardinals.
“I was shocked. I was silent. I didn’t know what to say. This was never in my mind,” he said.
“I also thought, if it’s God’s will – he will give me strength,” said Cardinal Ribat.
He told the faithful that during the era of the Early Church, parish priests in Rome used to elect the pope due to proximity and said he was honored to be part of a strongly connected global church.
With an estimated two million Catholics in Papua New Guinea, the country in divided into 19 dioceses and four archdioceses. Cardinal Ribat oversees more than 200,000 Catholics facing threats from rising sea levels and undersea mining for valuable metals.
In his homily, Cardinal Ribat said climate change has affected Papua New Guinea and noted the Carteret Islands have been facing rising sea levels for more than two decades and decreasing their size.
“Our survival and existence is in danger,” he told the faithful.
Thanking the faithful and the MSC community for supporting the Archdiocese of Port Moresby, he said their contributions have brought aid to the region, helped build schools and health care centers, and provided seminarian education for future priests.
“Thank you to all of you in the United States. You have been very generous supporters in the work of MSC priests in their mission,” said Cardinal Ribat.
Father Tobias said Cardinal Ribat’s visit was in conjunction with his role as a member of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. The dicastery promotes the values of justice, peace and the care of creation in accordance with the Gospel message.
“His visit shows the universality of the Church. And this celebration shows the beauty of the Holy Family community,” he said.
During Cardinal Ribat’s pastoral visit, he also celebrated Mass and met with guests and MSC sisters March 25 at the MSC Motherhouse, Reading.
The MSC order of men founded the Missionary Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus who established their Motherhouse in Reading in 1908. It is the headquarters for the United States Province of MSC, which includes Mexico.
The celebration observed the Feast of the Annunciation and Foundation Day for the MSC Sisters who celebrated its 119th anniversary of the order’s founding in Germany.
