Strong bond between sister cities
BISHOP of Townsville Tim Harris has continued to strengthen the bond between North Queensland and Papua New Guinea during a recent visit to Port Moresby for the Federation of Catholic Bishops of Oceania Conference.
In 2012, the late Bishop Michael Putney and the Archbishop of Port Moresby signed a unique Sister Diocese agreement, which allowed for the co- operation between the two dioceses in areas like education, social services and parish pastoral support.
Since his ordination in May 2017, Bishop Harris said he was keen to continue the strong connection between the two dioceses.
“I believe that this is an important agreement, our two cities are Sister Cities, Port Moresby is a very close neighbour and I want to see this agreement strengthened,” Bishop Harris said during his visit.
Bishop Harris met with Cardinal Sir John Ribat to further understand the agreement and explore the city.
“This has been a marvellous opportunity to get to know the Cardinal better and get an understanding of how our two regions can better support each other,” Bishop Harris said.
“We are all people of God and I have been very moved by their warm welcome. Our delegation participated in a very fruitful discussion with the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council and we shared how this relationship be- tween our two dioceses has been successful and how we can progress it and strengthen it.”
Cardinal Sir John Ribat and the Vicar General Fr Ben Flemming took Bishop Harris and his party along the Owen Stanley Range and visited Owers’ Corner during the visit, a significant part of the Kokoda Track in World War II and now the starting point for many Australians who walk the Kokoda Trail each year.
“This was a moving experience to visit this place and get a very simple understanding of what the terrain was that the soldiers of World War II experienced and to then visit the Bomana War Cemetery and see the graves of more than 3000 Australian soldiers was very powerful,” Bishop Harris said.