PARIS (AP) — When Charline Van Snick flirted with another female athlete after winning the bronze medal in Judo in the 2012 London Olympic Games, she said her coach told her she needed to stay in the closet for the future of her career.
“It was a moment when I didn't feel like myself,” the 33-year-old retired Belgian Olympian said. “He said, Charline, you have to fit in the box. Everyone is looking at you and you have to be straight. ... I understood that it's not a place to be yourself, it's not a place to be LGBTQ+."
Click to Gallery
PARIS (AP) — When Charline Van Snick flirted with another female athlete after winning the bronze medal in Judo in the 2012 London Olympic Games, she said her coach told her she needed to stay in the closet for the future of her career.
People take photos of the Olympic cauldron at sunset in the Tuileries Garden during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 29, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
People attend the opening of Pride House, the safe space for the LGBT+ community of athletes, held on the Rosa Bonheur sur Seine boat during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 29, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Marijo Raidy, right, attends the opening of Pride House, the safe space for the LGBT+ community of athletes, held on the Rosa Bonheur sur Seine boat during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 29, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
People attend the opening of Pride House, the safe space for the LGBT+ community of athletes, held on the Rosa Bonheur sur Seine boat during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 29, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
French sports minister Amelie Oudea-Castera, right, and Jeremy Goupille cut the ribbon at the opening of Pride House, the safe space for the LGBT+ community of athletes, during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 29, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
People attend the opening of Pride House, the safe space for the LGBT+ community of athletes, held on the Rosa Bonheur sur Seine boat during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 29, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
French sports minister Amelie Oudea-Castera, center, takes part in the opening ceremony of Pride House, the safe space for the LGBT+ community of athletes, during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 29, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Yanis Yanou attends the opening of Pride House, the safe space for the LGBT+ community of athletes, during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 29, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Aritists Jaydena Athena de Martel performs at the opening of Pride House, the safe space for the LGBT+ community of athletes, during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 29, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
People pose for a photo as they attend the opening of Pride House, the safe space for the LGBT+ community of athletes, during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 29, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
People attend the opening of Pride House, the safe space for the LGBT+ community of athletes, held on the Rosa Bonheur sur Seine boat during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 29, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Aritists Jaydena Athena de Martel performs at the opening of Pride House, the safe space for the LGBT+ community of athletes, during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 29, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Robin Labarrere holds a flower after performing at the opening of Pride House, the safe space for the LGBT+ community of athletes, during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 29, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Jeremy Goupille shows his nails painted with the rainbow colors and the Olympic rings at the opening of Pride House, the safe space for the LGBT+ community of athletes, during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 29, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Drag queen Piche prepares to perform, at the Debilly Bridge in Paris, during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
While the Olympic Games have made giant strides in the years since — the Paris 2024 Olympics set a record for the most athletes who are openly LGBTQ+ — advocates and athletes say international athletics have a long way to go in opening up to the queer community.
In the Olympic opening ceremonies, Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee, sent a message in his speech to the world: “In our Olympic world, we all belong."
Parisian officials continued their push for inclusion Monday night with the opening of the Olympic Pride House, located on a boat floating on the city's famous Seine River. Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, French Minister for Sport and the Olympic and Paralympic Games, told The Associated Press they were “sending a message of inclusion” in these Games.
“It's important to Paris, to keep fighting against all types of discrimination," Oudéa-Castéra said. "We need to drive this progress in society and the reason I am here today is because sport is a very powerful agent to do that.”
The Paris Olympics broke a record by having 191 openly LGBTQ+ athletes competing, according to Outsports, a website compiling a database of openly queer Olympians. The count surpassed the 186 athletes at the COVID-19-delayed Tokyo Olympics held in 2021.
The Olympic officials' messages and the record were welcomed by many in the LGBTQ+ community like 31-year-old Matt Clark, among those celebrating the inauguration of the Pride House. Clark said Paris has “started a legacy that is going to continue in other Games.”
“It is going to continue with other athletes and young people everywhere that it is okay to be gay and it is okay to be queer and you have a future in front of you,” Clark said. “Five, 10 years ago you had coaches telling their athletes don’t come out, it will ruin your career. Now it has become a springboard for people’s careers.”
Clark cited British diver Tom Daley's rise to celebrity as an example.
The number of openly LGBTQ+ Olympians has skyrocketed in recent decades. Jim Buzinski, co-founder of Outsports, said when they started tracking athletes at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, they counted only around five who were openly LGBTQ+.
“More and more people are coming out,” Buzinski said. “They realize it’s important to be visible because there’s no other way to get representation.”
Van Snick said it took her a long time to be truly comfortable with her own sexuality, and that she was really only able to do so when she stepped out of the spotlight.
She noted ongoing debate, an in some cases, exclusion of transgender athletes in Olympic events as disappointing.
“The world has grown since I was an Olympic medalist," Van Snick said. “But when I think of the trans question, we have a long way to go.”
Still, Buzinski and LGBTQ+ advocates see the Paris Games as an opportunity for athletes who hail from parts of the world where competitors can't be openly gay because of harsh restrictions on queer populations.
“Coming to Paris, coming to France, they are able to be their true selves," said Jérémy Goupille, co-chair of the Pride House at the Paris Olympics.
The Pride House, which debuted at the 2010 Olympics, is located on a boat floating on the Seine River and acts as the hub for the queer community during the competition.
Goupille said security concerns still remain for many athletes. Dating apps like Grindr, Bumble and Tinder have long been used as a shield for gay athletes who want to connect with other queer people in the countries where they are competing but don't want to feel publicly exposed.
But he said in previous Games, some have tried to expose athletes that are not officially out by checking heights, weights and locations of people on those apps.
Because of that, Grindr announced that in Paris they have disabled location-based features within the Olympic village where athletes stay and other official Games areas, saying it would allow LGBTQ+ athletes to connect “authentically without worrying about prying eyes or unwanted attention.”
The app made the same decision for the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
“If an athlete is not out or comes from a country where being LGBTQ+ is dangerous or illegal, using Grindr can put them at risk of being outed by curious individuals who may try to identify and expose them on the app," Grindr said in a statement.
Disabling those features was met with some criticism on social media last week after some users reported problems accessing the app in the Olympic village.
“You have to protect them because so many bad people exist. At the same time, there are so many beautiful athletes," Goupille said. "They want to meet someone and it's difficult.”
AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
The Olympic cauldron beams at sunset in the Tuileries Garden during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 29, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
People take photos of the Olympic cauldron at sunset in the Tuileries Garden during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 29, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
People attend the opening of Pride House, the safe space for the LGBT+ community of athletes, held on the Rosa Bonheur sur Seine boat during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 29, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Marijo Raidy, right, attends the opening of Pride House, the safe space for the LGBT+ community of athletes, held on the Rosa Bonheur sur Seine boat during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 29, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
People attend the opening of Pride House, the safe space for the LGBT+ community of athletes, held on the Rosa Bonheur sur Seine boat during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 29, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
French sports minister Amelie Oudea-Castera, right, and Jeremy Goupille cut the ribbon at the opening of Pride House, the safe space for the LGBT+ community of athletes, during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 29, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
People attend the opening of Pride House, the safe space for the LGBT+ community of athletes, held on the Rosa Bonheur sur Seine boat during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 29, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
French sports minister Amelie Oudea-Castera, center, takes part in the opening ceremony of Pride House, the safe space for the LGBT+ community of athletes, during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 29, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Yanis Yanou attends the opening of Pride House, the safe space for the LGBT+ community of athletes, during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 29, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Aritists Jaydena Athena de Martel performs at the opening of Pride House, the safe space for the LGBT+ community of athletes, during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 29, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
People pose for a photo as they attend the opening of Pride House, the safe space for the LGBT+ community of athletes, during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 29, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
People attend the opening of Pride House, the safe space for the LGBT+ community of athletes, held on the Rosa Bonheur sur Seine boat during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 29, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Aritists Jaydena Athena de Martel performs at the opening of Pride House, the safe space for the LGBT+ community of athletes, during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 29, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Robin Labarrere holds a flower after performing at the opening of Pride House, the safe space for the LGBT+ community of athletes, during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 29, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Jeremy Goupille shows his nails painted with the rainbow colors and the Olympic rings at the opening of Pride House, the safe space for the LGBT+ community of athletes, during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 29, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Drag queen Piche prepares to perform, at the Debilly Bridge in Paris, during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
VANIMO, Papua New Guinea (AP) — Pope Francis traveled to the remote jungles of Papua New Guinea on Sunday to celebrate the Catholic Church on the peripheries, bringing with him a ton of medicine, musical instruments and a message of love for the people who live there.
Francis flew aboard a Royal Australian Air Force C-130 transport plane from Port Moresby to Vanimo, on the northwest coast of the South Pacific nation. There, Francis met with the local Catholic community and the missionaries from his native Argentina who have been ministering to them.
For an Argentine pope who marveled in 2013 at having been chosen from the “end of the Earth” to lead the church, it was a voyage to another end of the Earth on the longest, farthest trip of Francis' pontificate.
Francis has previously traveled to the edge of the Arctic (to apologize to the Inuit people for church abuses), and into the Peruvian Amazon (to draw attention to its plight), and to the plains of Ur, Iraq (to boost Christian-Muslim ties). But even by his standards, Sunday's trip to remote Vanimo was extraordinary.
A crowd of an estimated 20,000 people gathered on the field in front of the Vanimo cathedral singing and dancing when Francis arrived, and he promptly put on a feathered headdress that had been presented to him.
In remarks from a raised stage, Francis praised the church workers who go out to try to spread the faith. But he urged the residents of Vanimo to work at home at being good to one another. He urged them to be like an orchestra, so that all members of the community come together harmoniously to overcome rivalries.
Doing so, he said, would help to “drive out fear, superstition and magic from people’s hearts, to put an end to destructive behaviors such as violence, infidelity, exploitation, alcohol and drug abuse, evils which imprison and take away the happiness of so many of our brothers and sisters.”
It was a reference to the tribal violence over land and other disputes that have long characterized the country’s culture but have grown more lethal in recent years. Francis arrived in Papua New Guinea to urge an end to the violence, including gender-based violence, and for a sense of civic responsibility to prevail.
Francis had started the day with a Mass before an estimated 35,000 people at the stadium in the capital, Port Moresby. In his homily, Francis told the crowd that they may well feel themselves distant from both their faith and the institutional church, but that God was near to them.
“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,” Francis said. “Yet … today the Lord wants to draw near to you, to break down distances, to let you know that you are at the center of his heart and that each one of you is important to him.”
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. In keeping with that philosophy, Francis has largely shunned foreign trips to European capitals, preferring instead far-flung communities where Catholics are often a minority.
Vanimo, population 11,000, certainly fits the bill of being remote. It is located near Papua New Guinea’s border with Indonesia, where the jungle meets the sea, and is for the most part only reachable by plane or boat.
There is a small airport, but no ambulift, the wheelchair elevator Francis needs to get on and off planes. Because of that, and the donated and purchased cargo Francis was bringing in, the C-130 was used so he could be wheeled on and off using the back ramp.
Francis, history’s first Latin American pope, has also had a special affinity for the work of Catholic missionaries. As a young Argentine Jesuit, he had hoped to serve as a missionary in Japan but was prevented from going because of his poor health.
Now, as pope, he has often held up missionaries as models for the church.
The Rev. Martin Prado, an Argentine missionary of the Institute of the Incarnate Word religious order, was responsible for inviting the pope to Vanimo.
As he waited for Francis to arrive Sunday, he recounted for reporters the “crazy” story of how he accompanied a group of Vanimo parishioners to Rome in 2019, and ended up scoring an audience with the pope after his parishioners insisted that they wanted to give him some gifts.
Prado, who has spent the past 10 of his 36 years working as a missionary in Vanimo, said he wrote a note, left it for the pope at the Vatican hotel where he lives, and the next day received an email from Francis' secretary inviting his group in.
“I invited him, but he wanted to come,” Prado said. “He has a big heart for people. It’s not just words: He does what he says.”
Prado said some people deep in the interior of the diocese, in the jungle where cars have yet to arrive, need clothes, and for them a plate of rice and tuna fish “is glorious.”
Francis was bringing a cargo of about a ton of medicine, clothing, musical instruments and toys, the Vatican said. Prado said Francis was also helping to build a new secondary school. He said half of the children of the diocese are unable to go to high school because there simply aren’t enough spots for them.
The event had a very Argentine flair to it: On the stage was a statue of the Virgin of Lujan, the patron of Argentina who is particularly dear to Francis and whose name also graces the local girls' school. When Francis met privately after the event with the nuns and missionary priests, they served him mate, the Argentine tea.
There are about 2.5 million Catholics in Papua New Guinea, according to Vatican statistics, out of a population in the Commonwealth nation believed to be around 10 million. The Catholics practice the faith along with traditional Indigenous beliefs, including animism and sorcery.
Francis’ visit to Vanimo was the highlight of his visit to Papua New Guinea, the second leg of his four-nation tour of Southeast Asia and Oceania. After first stopping in Indonesia, Francis heads on Monday to East Timor and then wraps up his visit in Singapore later in the week.
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
The golf cart used by Pope Francis during his visit to Vanimo, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, is seen loaded inside the Royal Australian Air Force Hercules C 130Js plane that brought him from Port Moresby to Vanimo on Sunday. (AIGAV Pool via AP)
People coming from Oecusse, about 200 kilometers (124 miles) from the capital of Dili, light candles during an evening mass on the field where they camp for days while waiting to attend the holy mass presided by Pope Francis scheduled on Sept. 10, in Dili, East Timor, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
Batista Au, coming all the way from Oecusse, about 200 kilometers (124 miles) from the capital of Dili, sits outside the tent where he camps for days while waiting to attend the holy mass presided by Pope Francis on Sept. 10, in Dili, East Timor, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
People who came from Oecusse, about 200 kilometers (124 miles) from the capital of Dili, light candles during an evening mass on the field where they camp while waiting to attend the holy mass presided by Pope Francis scheduled on Sept. 10, in Dili, East Timor, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
Mariano Soares who came from Oecusse, about 200 kilometers (124 miles) from the capital of Dili, plays a guitar near a row of tents belonging to people who camp for days while waiting to attend the holy mass presided by Pope Francis on Sept. 10, in Dili, East Timor, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
People who came from Oecusse, about 200 kilometers (124 miles) from the capital of Dili, light candles during an evening mass on the field where they camp while waiting to attend the holy mass presided by Pope Francis scheduled on Sept. 10, in Dili, East Timor, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
From left, Jacinto Elu, Blandina Milo and Rosalina Manu who came from Oecusse, about 200 kilometers (124 miles) from the capital of Dili, sit near the tents where they camp while waiting to attend the holy mass presided by Pope Francis scheduled on Sept. 10, in Dili, East Timor, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
People who came from Oecusse, about 200 kilometers (124 miles) from the capital of Dili, sit near the tents where they camp while waiting to attend the holy mass presided by Pope Francis scheduled on Sept. 10, in Dili, East Timor, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
Venansio Lafo, center, who came from Oecusse, about 200 kilometers (124 miles) from the capital of Dili, talks with friends outside the tents where they camp for days while waiting to attend the holy mass presided by Pope Francis scheduled on Sept. 10, in Dili, East Timor, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
Children play near a cutout of Pope Francis installed at a church ahead of his visit to East Timor, in Dili, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
Pope Francis hugs a blind pupil of the Holy Trinity Humanistic School in Baro, near Vanimo, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. Pope Francis celebrated the Catholic Church of the peripheries on Sunday as he traveled to the remote jungles of Papua New Guinea, bringing with him a ton of medicine and toys and a message of love overcoming violence for the people who live there.(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Pope Francis is hugged by a blind pupil of the Holy Trinity Humanistic School in Baro, near Vanimo, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. Pope Francis celebrated the Catholic Church of the peripheries on Sunday as he traveled to the remote jungles of Papua New Guinea, bringing with him a ton of medicine and toys and a message of love overcoming violence for the people who live there.(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Papuan indigenous people wait for Pope Francis in Vanimo, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. Pope Francis celebrated the Catholic Church of the peripheries on Sunday as he traveled to the remote jungles of Papua New Guinea, bringing with him a ton of medicine and toys and a message of love overcoming violence for the people who live there.(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Papuan indigenous people wait for Pope Francis in Vanimo, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. Pope Francis celebrated the Catholic Church of the peripheries on Sunday as he traveled to the remote jungles of Papua New Guinea, bringing with him a ton of medicine and toys and a message of love overcoming violence for the people who live there.(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Pupils of the Holy Trinity Humanistic School and faithful wait for Pope Francis in Baro, near Vanimo, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. the Holy Trinity Humanistic School in Baro, near Vanimo, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. Pope Francis celebrated the Catholic Church of the peripheries on Sunday as he traveled to the remote jungles of Papua New Guinea, bringing with him a ton of medicine and toys and a message of love overcoming violence for the people who live there.(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Pope Francis arrives at the Holy Trinity Humanistic School in Baro, near Vanimo, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. Pope Francis celebrated the Catholic Church of the peripheries on Sunday as he traveled to the remote jungles of Papua New Guinea, bringing with him a ton of medicine and toys and a message of love overcoming violence for the people who live there.(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Pope Francis arrives at the Holy Trinity Humanistic School in Baro, near Vanimo, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. Pope Francis celebrated the Catholic Church of the peripheries on Sunday as he traveled to the remote jungles of Papua New Guinea, bringing with him a ton of medicine and toys and a message of love overcoming violence for the people who live there.(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Pope Francis arrives at the Holy Trinity Humanistic School in Baro, near Vanimo, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. Pope Francis celebrated the Catholic Church of the peripheries on Sunday as he traveled to the remote jungles of Papua New Guinea, bringing with him a ton of medicine and toys and a message of love overcoming violence for the people who live there.(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
A woman and a baby walks by the cemetery of the Holy Trinity Humanistic School in Baro, near Vanimo, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. Pope Francis celebrated the Catholic Church of the peripheries on Sunday as he traveled to the remote jungles of Papua New Guinea, bringing with him a ton of medicine and toys and a message of love overcoming violence for the people who live there.(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Pope Francis, center, poses for a photo in the School & Queen of Paradise Hall at the Holy Trinity Humanistic School in Baro, near Vanimo, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, where he attended a short concert by the school's student orchestra. Pope Francis celebrated the Catholic Church of the peripheries on Sunday as he traveled to the remote jungles of Papua New Guinea, bringing with him a ton of medicine and toys and a message of love overcoming violence for the people who live there.(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Pope Francis arrives at the Holy Trinity Humanistic School in Baro, near Vanimo, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. Pope Francis celebrated the Catholic Church of the peripheries on Sunday as he traveled to the remote jungles of Papua New Guinea, bringing with him a ton of medicine and toys and a message of love overcoming violence for the people who live there.(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Children draw Crosses on a sandy beach in Vanimo, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. Pope Francis celebrated the Catholic Church of the peripheries on Sunday as he traveled to the remote jungles of Papua New Guinea, bringing with him a ton of medicine and toys and a message of love overcoming violence for the people who live there.(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
A man with an image of Jesus Christ tattooed on his arm attends a Sunday mass ahead of Pope Francis' visit to East Timor, at a church in Dili, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
Pope Francis, left, meets with indigenous people at the Holy Trinity Humanistic School in Baro, near Vanimo, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. Pope Francis celebrated the Catholic Church of the peripheries on Sunday as he traveled to the remote jungles of Papua New Guinea, bringing with him a ton of medicine and toys and a message of love overcoming violence for the people who live there.(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Faithful wait for Pope Francis to arrive at a meeting with faithful in Vanimo, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. Pope Francis celebrated the Catholic Church of the peripheries on Sunday as he traveled to the remote jungles of Papua New Guinea, bringing with him a ton of medicine and toys and a message of love overcoming violence for the people who live there.(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Faithful wait for Pope Francis to arrive at a meeting with faithful in Vanimo, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. Pope Francis celebrated the Catholic Church of the peripheries on Sunday as he traveled to the remote jungles of Papua New Guinea, bringing with him a ton of medicine and toys and a message of love overcoming violence for the people who live there.(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Pope Francis hugs missionary Martin Prado as they meet in Vanimo, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. Pope Francis celebrated the Catholic Church of the peripheries on Sunday as he traveled to the remote jungles of Papua New Guinea, bringing with him a ton of medicine and toys and a message of love overcoming violence for the people who live there.(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Pope Francis attends a meeting with the faithful in Vanimo, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. Pope Francis celebrated the Catholic Church of the peripheries on Sunday as he traveled to the remote jungles of Papua New Guinea, bringing with him a ton of medicine and toys and a message of love overcoming violence for the people who live there.(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Pope Francis meets with faithful in Vanimo, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. Pope Francis celebrated the Catholic Church of the peripheries on Sunday as he traveled to the remote jungles of Papua New Guinea, bringing with him a ton of medicine and toys and a message of love overcoming violence for the people who live there.(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Pope Francis on a wheelchair arrives for a meeting with faithful in Vanimo, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. Pope Francis celebrated the Catholic Church of the peripheries on Sunday as he traveled to the remote jungles of Papua New Guinea, bringing with him a ton of medicine and toys and a message of love overcoming violence for the people who live there.(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Faithful wait for Pope Francis to arrive at a meeting with faithful in Vanimo, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. Pope Francis celebrated the Catholic Church of the peripheries on Sunday as he traveled to the remote jungles of Papua New Guinea, bringing with him a ton of medicine and toys and a message of love overcoming violence for the people who live there.(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Pope Francis, talks with Father Martin Prado, a missionary of the Institute of the Incarnate Word, left, during a meeting with faithful in Vanimo, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. Pope Francis celebrated the Catholic Church of the peripheries on Sunday as he traveled to the remote jungles of Papua New Guinea, bringing with him a ton of medicine and toys and a message of love overcoming violence for the people who live there.(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Pope Francis wears a traditional hat during a meeting with faithful in Vanimo, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. . (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Bishops gesture as they leave a mass hosted by Pope Francis at Sir John Guise Stadium, in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Women in traditional dress attend as Pope Francis holds a holly mass at Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Women in traditional dress attend as Pope Francis holds a holly mass at Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Pope Francis, right, holds a holly mass at Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Pope Francis, second left, holds a holly mass at Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Dancers in traditional dress perform as Pope Francis holds a holly mass at Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
A man carries a child as Pope Francis holds a holly mass at Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Women with traditional headdress and face paint attends a holy mass by Pope Francis at Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
People with traditional headdress and face paint attends a holy mass by Pope Francis at Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Clerics walk past a main in traditional dress as Pope Francis holds a holly mass at Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Clerics walk past a man in traditional dress as Pope Francis holds a holly mass at Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Men wear traditional headdress as Pope Francis holds a holly mass at Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
People in traditional headdress use their phones as Pope Francis holds a holly mass at Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
People attend as Pope Francis holds a holly mass at Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Pope Francis holds a holly mass at Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Pope Francis presides over the Sunday mass at the Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. Pope Francis called Saturday for the Catholic Church in Papua New Guinea to be particularly close to women who have been abused and marginalized, speaking out in a country where violence against women is reported to be more than twice the global average. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
People fill the stands as Pope Francis holds a holly mass at Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
People fill the stands as Pope Francis holds a holly mass at Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
People fill the stands as Pope Francis holds a holly mass at Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Pope Francis, sitting at center on the altar, looks at faithful performing in traditional costumes during the Sunday mass at the Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. Pope Francis called Saturday for the Catholic Church in Papua New Guinea to be particularly close to women who have been abused and marginalized, speaking out in a country where violence against women is reported to be more than twice the global average. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
People use event programs to shield the sun as Pope Francis holds a holly mass at Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Pope Francis, left, holds a holly mass at Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Pope Francis presides over the Sunday mass at the Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. Pope Francis called Saturday for the Catholic Church in Papua New Guinea to be particularly close to women who have been abused and marginalized, speaking out in a country where violence against women is reported to be more than twice the global average. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Pope Francis, center, adjusts his glasses as he holds a holly mass at Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
A man with traditional headdress and face paint attends a holy mass by Pope Francis at Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Men rest as Pope Francis holds a holly mass at Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
A procession of clerics walk past locals dressed in tradition headdresses as Pope Francis holds a holly mass at Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Bishops and faithful in traditional costumes attend the Sunday mass presided over by Pope Francis at the Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. Pope Francis called Saturday for the Catholic Church in Papua New Guinea to be particularly close to women who have been abused and marginalized, speaking out in a country where violence against women is reported to be more than twice the global average. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Pope Francis arrives on a golf cart at the Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, where he will preside over the Sunday mass. Pope Francis called Saturday for the Catholic Church in Papua New Guinea to be particularly close to women who have been abused and marginalized, speaking out in a country where violence against women is reported to be more than twice the global average. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Pope Francis, top left, holds a holly mass at Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Pope Francis, center, presides over the Sunday mass at the Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. Pope Francis called Saturday for the Catholic Church in Papua New Guinea to be particularly close to women who have been abused and marginalized, speaking out in a country where violence against women is reported to be more than twice the global average. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Pope Francis, top left, holds a holly mass at Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
A man with traditional headdress uses a fan to shield the sun as Pope Francis holds a holly mass at Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Pope Francis, flanked by Archbishop Diego Ravelli, right, presides over the Sunday mass at the Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. Pope Francis called Saturday for the Catholic Church in Papua New Guinea to be particularly close to women who have been abused and marginalized, speaking out in a country where violence against women is reported to be more than twice the global average. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Pope Francis, flanked by Archbishop Diego Ravelli, right, presides over the Sunday mass at the Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. Pope Francis called Saturday for the Catholic Church in Papua New Guinea to be particularly close to women who have been abused and marginalized, speaking out in a country where violence against women is reported to be more than twice the global average. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
A woman uses a fan and protects herself from the sun with a towel as Pope Francis holds a holly mass at Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
