A journey of faith by lone Catholic female to the Vatican

Shirley Wane, during an interview with NBC Western Highlands, on her pilgrimage to the Vatican to witness the canonization of Blessed Peter Torot as a Saint (NBC News: Vanessa Ripa)

With courage, faith, and determination, a lone woman from the Western Highlands will make a pilgrimage of a lifetime, journeying to the Vatican to witness the historic canonization of Blessed Peter Torot alongside eight other saints.

Her remarkable story reflects not only a personal devotion but also the deep spiritual connection Papua New Guineans share with their first martyr, whose sainthood marks a defining chapter in the nation's catholic faith.

Shirley Wane from the Moge Tribe of Hagen Central District is a devoted catholic from the Kumdi Parish in the Archdiocese of Mt Hagen.

Holy Trinity Cathedral Rabiamul. Headquarters of the Catholic Archdiocese of Mt Hagen (Image: Supplied)

Her childhood dream is to one day visit the Vatican- the Holy See.

This dream will now come true as she now prepares to make her journey halfway around the globe amongst millions of catholic faithful around the world to witness firsthand the canonization of the nine saints, amongst which is PNG's very own Blessed Peter Torot.

But the road to her journey was not easy, having been the only lay person in the [Mt Hagen Archdiocese] that covers Western Highlands and Jiwaka Provinces with 26 Parishes to travel alone.

In an interview with NBC, Ms Wane said that in March of this year, when the announcement was made of Blessed Peter Torot's canonization, this prompted her to start a fundraiser to raise funds towards her travel.

And so, she did.

Having already a social media page (Swane Trading) doing her own Small and Medium Enterprises [SME] activity, this has helped her to do sales of wool woven Highlands bilums, cooked food family dishes for K100 (sells like hotcakes) to her customers, which has helped her now pursue her childhood dreams.

" My little sales from my SME activity mainly on Facebook have helped me to prepare myself for the journey I'll be taking alone to Rome."

"When the Catholic Bishop's Conference [CBC] spelt out the total package amount for the travel to Rome from Port Moresby, I didn't hesitate because my sales had already pushed me to make advance payments for my itinerary, accommodation in Rome for a week to qualify for a visa. Now I am happy that my visa was approved and I am all set to travel to Rome," said an ecstatic Ms. Wane.

Wane added, apart from other catholic faithful of the CBC of PNG and Solomon Islands who are travelling in groups, she has missed out on this group travel and will now be travelling alone, where her journey begins in Mt Hagen to Port Moresby, then to Manila, overnight, and en route to Dubai and finally Rome.

She also shared her concern of not travelling in the group for this pilgrimage with other catholic faithfuls stating lack of coordination and facilitation by the Archdiocese she came from despite attempts fronting up at the diocese and pastering priests she know of that could assisst or facilitate such pilgrimage to an historic event in the Catholic Church calender.

Shirley will leave PNG shores on the 15th of October and will arrive on time in Rome on the 19th of October, just in time to witness the canonization of Blessed Peter Torot and eight other saints at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, Rome.