Pope Francis in Papua New Guinea reaches out to ‘peripheries’ of Catholic Church
(PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea) — Pope Francis boarded an Australian Royal Air Force C-130 on Sunday and flew over the pristine jungles of Papua New Guinea, travelling to the faraway settlement of Vanimo as the 87-year-old continues reaching out to what he likes to call the “peripheries” of the Catholic Church.
He was warmly welcomed with a series of traditional performances. Speaking to a crowd of about 20,000, the Pope praised the missionaries doing God’s work in the remote region, where communities often depend on them for healthcare, education, access to running water, and electricity.
“You are doing something beautiful, and it is important that you are not left alone,” he said.
The pontiff brought close to a tonne of humanitarian aid, medicine and toys with him. He was gifted a traditional feathered headdress that he chose to wear for part of the event.
The Pope then met with a group of missionaries from Argentina, including one he personally knows, Father Miguel de la Calle, who told Vatican Media people had been “walking for days” to see the Pope.
“People are coming from all over — from the jungle, the mountains, from Indonesia across the border, from other provinces,” he said.
Earlier in the day, the Pope held mass in Port Moresby, to a packed stadium of about 35,000.
“Brothers and sisters, you who live on this large island in the Pacific Ocean may sometimes have thought of yourselves as a far away and distant land, situated at the edge of the world,” he said. “Today the Lord wants to draw near to you, to break down distances.”
This comes as Pope Francis continues the most ambitious trip of his pontificate; a 12-day, four country, two continent odyssey. Religious harmony was a key part of the Pope’s message on this first leg of his 12-day trip.
Papua New Guinea marks the furthest from Rome he’s ever been.
The Pope’s next stop: Timor-Leste, where over 97% of the population identifies as Catholic.
(PARIS) — Services to the French rail networks have been partially restored following Friday’s sabotage attack ahead of the Olympics opening ceremony.
Crews worked through the night amid inclement weather to restore service to all the lines affected by the attack. The rail company is aiming to get service fully restored by Monday.
No arrests have been made nor have suspects been identified in the arson attack on the railway system.
Most train lines were running with delays after the fires and at least 800,000 people have been affected, according to a statement from France’s rail network, according to France’s state-owned railway network SNCF.
The fires started to be reported at 4 a.m. local time on Friday, SNCF said. Trackside signal boxes were set on fire and cables on the lines had been cut, which caused major disruptions in the north and east of France, according to SNCF.
SNCF said it had increased security along all lines with 1,000 workers and 50 drones.
(LONDON) — No decisions were made on Ukraine’s use of American long-range weapons against Russia during a meeting between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Ukrainian leadership on Wednesday, according to an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskky.
The discussion comes as Blinken announced more than $700 million in new funds to support Ukraine during remarks in Kyiv.
Restrictions on Ukraine’s use of American long-range weapons against targets inside Russia have been one of the most pressing issues for Blinken during the visit. America’s top diplomat was accompanied by British Foreign Secretary David Lammy.
During a lengthy meeting, Zelenskky and Blinken discussed lifting the ban on strikes deeper in Russian territory and weapon supplies, according to an adviser to Zelenskyy with knowledge of the meeting. Zelenskyy gave Blinken a detailed plan of how Ukraine could use long-range missiles for strikes into Russia and gave him a list of possible targets, the adviser said.
Blinken confirmed with reporters during remarks following the meeting that he discussed long-range fires with Ukrainian officials, “but a number of other things as well.”
Blinken said he will share what he learned from his talks with Ukrainian leadership on this trip with President Joe Biden, who is set to meet with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday to “discuss how to further help Ukraine.”
‘We have adjusted and adapted as needs have changed, as the battlefield has changed, and I have no doubt that we’ll continue to do that as this evolves,” Blinken said.
He said escalation from Russia — including the acquisition of Iranian ballistic missiles — is “one of the factors that we always consider, but it’s certainly not the only factor.”
“We’re determined to ensure that they have what they need to succeed,” he added.
Blinken said the more than $700 million in new funds announced on Wednesday will help repair Ukraine’s energy and electric grid and provide humanitarian support as Ukraine heads into the fall fighting season against Russia.
“We remain fully committed to Ukraine’s victory, to not only ensuring that Ukraine can defend itself today, but can stand on its own feet strongly, militarily, economically, democratically for many, many days ahead,” Blinken said.
The new funds include $325 million to help repair Ukraine’s energy and electric grid, $290 million in new humanitarian support to those displaced by the war and $102 million in additional funding to help remove landmines and unexploded ordnances left behind by Russia across Ukraine, according to Blinken.
“The bottom line is this, we want Ukraine to win, and we’re fully committed to keep marshaling the support that it needs for its brave defenders and citizens to do just that now,” Blinken said.
Lammy also announced more than 600 million pounds in new support for Ukraine, including 242 million pounds this financial year for immediate humanitarian energy and stabilization needs.
Lammy additionally announced that the U.K. will send hundreds of additional air defense missiles and tens of thousands of additional artillery ammunition rounds to Ukraine by the end of the year.
“Together, Britain and our allies are united in our commitment to Ukraine, to freedom, to victory, because we both recognize what is at stake here — not just the liberty of Ukraine, but the security of Europe and the security of the West,” he said.
Kyiv has long been advocating for U.S. permission to strike military targets within Russian borders, including airfields that are key to Moscow’s long-range missile campaign against Ukrainian cities.
“We continue to persuade our partners at all levels about long-range capabilities,” Zelenskyy wrote on his Telegram channel on Sunday.
“Russia can avoid seeking peace only as much as the world avoids making strong decisions aimed at Russia’s defeat. Long-range capabilities are one of those key, strategic decisions.”
Yehor Cherniev — a member of the Ukrainian parliament and the chairman of his country’s delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly — told ABC News that Ukrainians are hoping for U.S. permission to use the MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System, colloquially known as the ATACMS, for strikes within Russia. The longest-range variant of the weapon can hit targets out to 190 miles.
“It will inspire Ukrainians and our army,” Cherniev said. Russian airfields and military depots will be top of Kyiv’s target list if American restrictions on ATACMS use are indeed lifted, he added.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists at a Wednesday briefing prior to Blinken’s remarks that he expected the U.S. to give its permission.
“Most likely, of course, all these decisions have already been made,” he said, as quoted by the state-run Tass agency.
ABC News’ Tanya Stukalova and Joe Simonetti contributed to this report.
(LONDON) — Ksenia Karelina, a dual American-Russian citizen, was sentenced Thursday to 12 years in a Russian penal colony on treason charges, local media reported.
Karelina was arrested in January and charged with treason, according to Russian state media and the court. She plans to appeal the verdict, her lawyer told ABC News on Thursday.
The prosecution had sought a 15-year prison sentence after Karelina entered a guilty plea, according to the court. The prosecution had also asked for a two-year probation period and a fine of 500,000 Russian rubles, or about $5,600, according to the court.
A former ballerina who lives in California, Karelina holds both U.S. and Russian citizenship. She was jailed for allegedly organizing fundraisers for Ukraine’s military, attending pro-Ukraine rallies and posting messages against Russia’s war in Ukraine, according to Russian state media. Karelina also goes by Khavana.
The Sverdlovsk Regional Court had earlier extended her pre-trial detention in a jail in Yekaterinburg, Russia.
Investigators accused her of committing a crime under Article 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. She was charged under that code with “high treason.”
Mikhail Mushailov, a lawyer for Karelina, told ABC News at the time of her guilty plea that after the verdict he would seek her exchange, a move that Karelina had asked for.
The U.S. State Department was asked earlier this month about Karelina and other dual American citizens who were being held abroad. The question came as former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva, a Russian-American journalist, were brought back to the United States through a mutli-country prisoner swap.
The U.S.’s message for those who were still detained was “pretty simple,” Vedant Patel, a department spokesperson, told reporters during a press briefing. He added that “while today is a good day, that the work doesn’t stop.”
“And to the American citizens who continue to be wrongfully detained or held hostage around the world, let me just be very clear that this government, this administration, is not going to stop working,” Patel said.