O’Neill, Sir Michael hail K12mil church building

PRIME Minister Peter O’Neill and Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare have described the new K12 million Catholic Bishops Conference building in Port Moresby as “magnificent”.
Construction of the building, which was opened yesterday, began in 2015. The certificate of completion was issued by the national building board three weeks ago.
O’Neill said the building would serve both the church and people in PNG and the Solomon Islands.
“The church and the Government must work in partnership to make sure that they not only develop our country but also provide the spiritual guidance for our people,” he said.
Sir Michael, who attended the opening with Lady Veronica, was amazed with the structure, describing it as marvellous and magnificent.
The building has a car park and a conference room. CBC general secretary Father Victor Roche said of the eight million people in the country, two million were Catholics.
Roche said they were represented by 22 bishops who would meet in the new conference room.
“It will be used for the administration of 3310 education facilities and 235 health facilities in PNG and the Solomon Islands,” he said.
He said all Papua New Guineans should be proud of being a nation with one people and one country. “But we also have to thank God for our journey from our humble beginnings,” Roche said.
He said for many centuries people had been living in their small and scattered communities and villages hidden from the world. “Today, we are connected to the rest of the world community as one nation.”