Gordons, Port Moresby: The Catholic Bishops Conference of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands is calling on all Catholics and people of goodwill to stop spreading false rumors regarding the passing of His Holiness Pope Francis and made it known that the Catholic Bishops Conference has not yet received any diplomatic update regarding the Pope’s health.
This call was made during an urgent Press Conference held at the CBC PNGSI headquarters in Gordons on Monday February 24, 2025.
Speaking at the panel was the President of the Catholic Bishops Conference and Bishop of Bereina Diocese His Lordship Bishop Otto Separy, His Lordship Bishop Rozario Menezes SMM, the Vice President of the Catholic Bishops Conference and the Bishop of Lae Diocese and Reverend Fr Lawrence Arockiaraj, the General Secretary of the Catholic Bishops Conference.
Bishop Otto clarified that any news regarding the Holy Father’s health will have to come through a Diplomatic announcement and encouraged people to filter the type of news they consume on social media.
“The Catholic Bishops Conference is aware of the Holy Father being hospitalized and as per the last diplomatic announcement from the Holy See Press Office, his condition remains critical but there is no new respiratory crisis. CBC is also aware that there is a lot of fake news being circulated on social media that the Holy Father has died but there are protocols that we should be mindful of. The Holy Father is the head of the Catholic Church and any announcement or news will have to come through a diplomatic announcement”, he said.
Vice President of the Catholic Bishops Conference Bishop Rozario Menezes SMM said news of the Holy Father being hospitalized comes as sad and is considered unfortunate for the Catholic Church in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands.
“Everybody is curious about his health since he just visited us last year in September. This is the time that as a Church, all the Bishops of the Dioceses are asking their faithful to pray for good health upon our beloved Pope”.
Bishop Rozario explained that there is a protocol to be followed when a Pope dies stating the Vatican Embassy (Nunciature) in Papua New Guinea should be our point of reference.
“If there are any updates, news will come from the Vatican Press Office to the Nunciature, then it will come to the Catholic Bishops Conference and to the Government heads and Foreign Missions that are in the country. From there, it will be disseminated to the public”.
Bishop Rozario also appealed to the public to stop spreading false rumors and wait for reliable news to come from the Vatican Press Office through the Niunciature.
“We will let you know as a Church when we have any updates. At this time, we kindly ask all people of goodwill to pray for good health for the Holy Father”
Making a final call to the public, CBC General Secretary Rev. Fr Lawrence Arockiaraj said that Papua New Guinea was blessed to have His Holiness Pope Francis visit the country last year in September and called on all people of goodwill to continue to pray for good health and a speedy recovery for the Holy Father.
“The Holy Father is still alive and as Christians, we should pray for him”.
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