Pope Francis emphasized the importance of a Catholic Church serving marginalized communities as he concluded his first full day in Papua New Guinea on Saturday, as part of a lengthy Asia tour.

Pope Francis said the world needs to address climate change while visiting the Pacific Island nation of Papua New Guinea, which is partly endangered by a rising Pacific Ocean.

Pope Francis’s visit to Papua New Guinea will take him to a remote part of the South Pacific island nation where Christianity is a recent addition to traditional spiritual beliefs developed over mille

Pope Francis will arrive in one of the world's most remote Catholic communities in Papua New Guinea on Sunday to something approaching home – a group of Argentine missionaries who plan to welcome him with a steaming cup of "mate",

In his homily, the Pope drew on the day’s Gospel reading about Jesus healing a deaf man, to emphasize the importance of overcoming distance from God and others, prompting the faithful to reflect on their own relationships.

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.

Francis was elected pope largely on the strength of a speech he gave to his fellow cardinals in 2013 about the need for the church to go out to the 'peripheries'” where people need God most