A newly installed archbishop has vowed to prioritize education, healthcare and peace in Indonesia’s Christian-majority Papua region which suffers from illiteracy and poor health services.

Sacred Heart Archbishop Petrus Canisius Mandagi was installed as the new head of the Archdiocese of Merauke in South Papua on Aug. 7, two years after Pope Francis appointed him.

Archbishop Mandagi, 73, served as the bishop of Amboina Diocese in the conflict-scarred province of Maluku since 1994 before he was appointed to Merauke on Nov. 11, 2020.

Indonesian Catholic bishops’ Commission for Social Communication live-streamed the installation Mass on YouTube from St. Francis Xavier Cathedral Church in Merauke led by the papal nuncio, Archbishop Piero Pioppo.

Archbishop Mandagi said he was scheduled to get the pallium (a white woollen band with pendants worn by archbishops) from Pope Francis on June 29 last year but failed to go to Rome due to the pandemic restrictions.

The prelate said that soon after his appointment he started pastoral services in Merauke.

“I didn’t want to wait, and I didn’t care about when I would be installed. So, I directly started to make some improvements once I got here. I had to move,” he said.

He says his pastoral services focus on education as well as health and common welfare.

“I want to improve the Papuan people’s education because I want them to have a better future. It can only be reached through education. If I don’t do this, they can be marginalized. The Papuan people are not low-educated ones, they aren’t just given a chance yet,” he said.

He later mentioned close monitoring of Catholic schools and priestly formation as examples.

He continued, “The main issue is the competency of teachers. Their quality needs to be improved. The education character is very important. I also want to see more Papuan priests. A diocese will grow well only if it has many priests, particularly indigenous ones,” he said, adding that he has built four minor seminaries in different remote areas.

A 2021 study from Statista Research Department showed Papua province had a 78.89 per cent literary rate among the population above 15 years, the lowest among Indonesian provinces.

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