Caritas Sister: Young Papuans will someday lead PNG’s development

By Claudia Torres – Port Moresby

Sister Florentina Cho has been a missionary in Papua New Guinea for 38 years. A Caritas of Jesus Sister (Salesian Family) from the Seoul Province of Korea, she was sent to the Oceanian island nation “to build a school” and “care for the poor and disadvantaged.”

This is what she shared in an interview on Saturday, September 7, at Caritas Technical Secondary School in Port Moresby, as Pope Francis met with children from her school, filling the background with chanted words of welcome for the Holy Father.

Sister Florentina recalls that in 1997, when she joined the mission at the Caritas school in Port Moresby, there were 144 students in total. Today, there are more than 1,000, from elementary school to middle school.

“I am very happy and proud of my younger sisters who are continuing here,” she said gratefully, explaining that in 2016, after more than 30 years in Port Moresby, she moved to Kimbe, in West New Britain province. There, she helped build another secondary school, which has 200 students.

Pope Francis with children at school

Sister Florentina stressed the great value of Christianity in education, which she said can help raise the standard of living of families, especially in a male-dominated society like Papua New Guinea, where sexual abuse and child abuse are major problems and “many women suffer.”

The situation of women is a recurring theme not only of this papal visit, but also of the current pontificate. This is why Sister Florentina hopes that the presence of the Holy Father in Papua New Guinea will contribute to improving the situation of women in Papua New Guinea society.

In the meantime, she and the other Sisters of Caritas of Jesus will continue to do their part, educating children and young people to build a more equitable society.

“One day, it will be the younger generations who develop the country,” she said. “This is our great hope and vision.”