Three days by boat: A missionary bishop at the ends of the earth

He walks while praying before the Blessed Sacrament because if he stops, the mosquitoes make prayer impossible. Only 5 percent of his diocese is land; the rest is water. Reaching some communities can take up to three days by boat. “It really is the end of the world,” Bishop Jacek Tendej of the Diocese of Alotau-Sideia in Papua New Guinea told Vatican News ahead of World Mission Sunday.

Bishop Tendej never planned to become a missionary. For many years, he worked in education, including as a high school principal. “Everyone used to say, ‘You’ll die here’,” he recalls with a smile. No one imagined that he would ever leave for a new place of ministry.

An almost forgotten email

A month after Pope Francis was elected, Fr. Tendej received an email from the General Curia of his religious congregation, the Congregation of the Mission (Vincentians). He was just about to leave with a group of young people, so he set the message aside and did not read it properly at first.

“I thought, this isn’t for me,” he recalls.

When he finally read the message, he could hardly believe it: they were asking him to go to Papua New Guinea. “Who goes on mission at the age of 50?” he says today with a smile.

At the time, he spent many hours in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. Then, a turning point came when he read a letter from Pope Francis to the Argentine Bishops’ Conference. Francis wrote that a Church which does not go out to people becomes sick, while a Church that does go out may have an accident — and that he would prefer a thousand times over a Church that has had an accident to one that is sick.

“I think that was an answer from the Holy Spirit,” Bishop Tendej says.

A journey into the unknown

“I went without knowing how it would all turn out,” he recalls.

Once there, he became rector of the seminary. “The seminary didn’t quite look like a seminary, but little by little we managed to put things in order,” he says.

“In some rooms, you could see the sun through the roof. And when it rained, you had to keep carrying buckets of water out. Fortunately, in my room the water dripped straight into the sink,” he adds, laughing.

Another surprise

In July 2025, the Apostolic Nuncio summoned Fr. Tendej and told him that Pope Leo XIV had appointed him Bishop of Alotau-Sideia.

“Holy Father Leo is asking you to become Bishop of Alotau,” he was told.

Although deeply surprised, he accepted the appointment and was ordained a bishop on September 27, 2025.

“I moved from the capital to the end of the world. It really is the end of the world,” he says.

The diocese spans mostly water: about 95 percent of its geographical area is water, with land accounting for only 5 percent. Sixteen parishes are located on islands, making pastoral visits a major logistical challenge.

“It can take as long as three days by boat to reach the most distant ones,” he says.

He is glad that more missionaries have recently agreed to serve in Papua New Guinea.

Praying on the move

“Through all of this, you have to pray. I think that’s the most important thing,” the bishop stresses.

Prayer is also one of Pope Leo XIV’s teachings that resonates with him.

“I’ve found my own particular way of praying. My ‘palace’ has just one room and no chapel, but the Blessed Sacrament is reserved in the cathedral,” he says.

“I walk while praying before the Blessed Sacrament for three reasons. First, if I stop, the mosquitoes won’t let me pray. Second, I don’t fall asleep while praying. And third, it’s good exercise.”

People thirsting for God

“I can see how much they look forward to the bishop coming,” Bishop Tendej says of the faithful he meets during his pastoral visits.

Despite bad weather and logistical difficulties, he reaches even the most remote corners of the diocese with God's help.

He particularly remembers one such journey, when he was due to bless a school.

“Everyone had gathered. It was supposed to start at ten, but we arrived at four. They sent two boats out to escort us. We made it. The journey back was just as difficult. Those are the things you remember,” the bishop recalls.

Paweł Rytel-Andrianik, Artur Hanula
Source: vaticannews.va/en