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The Legacy of Papua New Guinea’s elderly missionaries
After long service and dedication in the missions, the elderly retired missionaries who served in Papua New Guinea and are now back in Europe continue to tell an extraordinary story of faith, sacrifice, and unwavering love for the people of Papua New Guinea. Fr. Christian Sieland, the director of Pontifical Mission Societies in Papua New Guinea, visited them and shares how their humility and commitment to inculturation of decades of service remain a lasting inspiration for today’s Church.
By Sr. Christine Masivo, CPS
Retirement from active service for many missionaries who served with dedication for over five decades of their lives in Papua New Guinea has not erased their missionary spirit. With age and health complications, they were forced to return to their native countries in Europe, their hearts remain firmly rooted in the communities they served. Although many of these missionaries would have loved to stay in their mission countries and be buried in the soil of the land they served.
Papua New Guinea has diverse cultures with over 800 languages and vibrant traditions, but many remote communities face challenges in accessing healthcare, education, infrastructure, and government services. In these areas, churches and missionaries are often the primary providers of education, healthcare, and community support.
Mission that never ends
Fr. Christian Sieland, the National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Papua New Guinea, recently visited members of the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) and the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit (SSpS) living in retirement homes in the Netherlands and in Germany.
According to the pontifical news agency Fides, most of the missionaries visited are now in their late 80s or early 90s. Among them was Bishop Emeritus Henk Te Maarssen, SVD, who spent nearly sixty years serving the Church in Papua New Guinea. The SVD’s played a foundational role in evangelizing Papua New Guinea (PNG) after arriving in Madang in 1896.
“What struck me about the SVDs,” Fr. Sieland recalls, is that “none of them regret becoming missionaries. Given another opportunity, they would make exactly the same choice.”
Builders of the Church and nation
These missionaries remember Papua New Guinea with gratitude and affection and not the hardships they endured when beginning the mission. Their conversations are filled with stories of the people they accompanied, the friendships they built, and the faith communities they nurtured.
Missionaries on mission in Papua New Guinea
Fr. Sieland noted that their contribution was beyond evangelization. While spreading the gospel, they laid the foundation for schools, hospitals, parishes, and social institutions that have helped to shape modern PNG, and despite these achievements, their humility is exemplary.
Fr. Sieland echoed that, “They never spoke proudly of what they accomplished, as everything they did was for the glory of God.”
Learning the gospel through culture
The pioneer missionaries immersed themselves fully in the local culture. They arrived in the 1950s and 1960s they learned local languages, lived among the people, embraced their way of life, and sought to understand their traditions before preaching the Gospel.
“They did not dismiss the indigenous customs but recognized the values already present within them,” Fr. Sieland commented, “by carefully distinguishing cultural practices that reflected Gospel values from those that required transformation through faith.”
Some missionaries compiled dictionaries and grammar guides for languages that had previously existed only in oral form, preserving an invaluable cultural heritage.
Mission in simplicity and humility
These missionaries served in remote villages without roads, modern facilities, or basic comforts with perseverance and simplicity. Mingling with the local communities taught them that material wealth does not define human flourishing.
“They discovered a people deeply connected to their land, culture, and communal life, where many Gospel values were already present long before Christianity arrived,” said Fr. Sieland. He describes this transformative experience as being “infected with the New Guinea virus,” a profound love for the people that permanently changes a missionary’s heart.
A legacy for future missionaries
“The witness of these elderly missionaries remains highly relevant, as the Church increasingly relies on local leadership,” Fr. Sieland commented.
Fr. Sieland said, “I feel that this early missionary spirit is sometimes missing among many of the newer missionaries arriving today, largely because most of the groundwork has already been laid.”
Modern missionaries continue to build upon the foundations established by these early pioneers, but the raw zeal and energy of those first missionaries was something entirely unique.
He encouraged the young missionaries and priests to approach every culture with openness, respect, and willingness to learn. Authentic evangelization begins not with imposing one’s own culture but with discovering God’s presence already at work within the lives of the people they serve.
For Fr. Sieland, the lives of these retired missionaries are a reminder that the greatest missionary legacy is not measured by buildings or statistics but by lives through humble service, enduring love, and a gospel lived with authenticity. Their witness continues to inspire the Church to embrace a mission marked by respect, inculturation, and selfless dedication to God’s people.
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