Aitape
Sandaun Province
Papua New Guinea
Established 1968 

Aitape is one of the oldest European settlements on the northern half of the PNG mainland. Germany established a station there in 1905 and for several years was both the administrative and Church capital of the north-western region of New Guinea.

The town of Aitape is located on a bay. Its beach is of grey volcanic sand with palm trees on one side and five islands on the other. It has a large post office, long wharf, and a few shops.

Aitape became the birth-place of the New Guinea Catholic mission. After Madang had to be rejected, the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) Fathers and Brothers moved to Tumleo Island, only a few kilometres off the coast of Aitape, in 1896. Within three years they were joined by the Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters (SSpS). By 1909 Madang became the centre of mission administration, but by then Aitape mission was well established and strong.

World War II took a horrific toll on the SVDs and they turned to the Jesuits and Franciscans in Australia and New Zealand to support them in New Guinea. The Franciscans were able to respond to this call and in 1946 they joined the SVDs in Aitape. In 1952 SVDs handed the mission over to the Franciscans.

By 2002 the total population of the diocese was 93,702, of these 69,400  Catholic.

The Ignation Years - 1968 to 1988

As soon as Aitape had become a diocese in its own right (1966) its Bishop, Bishop Ignatius Doggett, an ex-student of Holy Cross, Ryde, approached the Patrician Brothers about staffing the diocese' high school: St Ignatius. After a short apprehensive hesitation, two Brothers out of the twenty-one who volunteered were sent to Aitape in January, 1968: Brothers Charles Barry and Gabriel McCluskie.
 

1976 - Charles Barry front left	Morning assembly at Saints

Very soon Br Charles became the principal of the Year 7 to 10 co-educational boarding school, and very soon more Brothers were sent to help. The next year three Brothers were in the school, the year after that four, and by 1973 six Brothers were working together in the school. It wasn't until the Brothers took up establishing a school in Nuku (1977) that the numbers had to be reduced so both schools could be staffed.

At St Ignatius the Brothers were involved in all aspects of school life: teaching, liturgy, agriculture, building, mechanical repairs, and even a brass band. 

St Ignatius was a very successful school and was well known and respected in the country. For many years the school was in the top ten of schools in relation to Year 10 academic results, and for several years it achieved the best academic results in all of PNG. Several of the Brothers were on national advisory committees and involved in devising books for use in PNG schools.
 

Saints' famous Brass Band	Tony's funeral at Saints in 1987

The saddest moment for the Congregation during these years was the death of Brother Anthony O'Connor of cancer in 1987 at the age of just thirty-seven. His contribution to the school as teacher, subject co-ordinator, liturgist, musician, and mechanic, is inestimable. He chose to be buried at the school, the only Patrician Brother buried in PNG.

The Formation Years - 1989 to Present

The Brothers began training PNG aspirants to the congregation in 1987 in Nuku, the pioneering Brothers here were Michael Vella (1987 - 1992) and Philip Turner (1988 - 99). But by 1989 so many young men had become involved in this that it was decided to split the programme between Nuku and Laingim. Very soon it was obvious that Laingim was not really suitable and so when a site in Aitape became available in the same year the Brothers moved from Laingim to Aitape. This site, on a small hill overlooking the bay of Aitape, is called Bishop's Hill and is only a few kilometres from St Ignatius.

By 1992 Bishop's Hill became the sole location for the formation programme, but not all the Brothers living in Aitape or at Bishop's Hill were involved in it. (Phil Turner centre)

Several Brothers taught and lived at the government high school in Aitape in 1989 and 1990. One lived at Bishop's Hill and taught at St Ignatius for a short time before an unfortunate motor cycle accident involving a dog resulted in this Brother having to be returned to Australia where on his recovery he was made provincial. In 1993, Brother Charles Barry became the principal of Aitape High School, and two other Brothers lived in community with him but worked in the mission brick building shop.

From 1994 to the present Bishop's Hill became the sole address of the Brothers in Aitape. While the formation programme continued, other young national Brothers were involved in such work as primary school teaching, nursing, and brick making.
 

Mission brickworks	Novice teaching at local school

There was a lull in initial formation (postulancy and novitiate) from 1995 until to end of 2001 and all the Brothers living at Bishop's Hill were involved in full-time ministries. But in 2002 seven young men presented themselves for postulancy.

In 2004 Bishop's Hill is still the only home of Patricians Brothers in Aitape - there is one Brother living and working in Wewak - and it is the home for four professed Brothers and seven novices. Other young men have visited and have shown interest in becoming Patricians, so the future of the Brothers in Aitape which started with an "apprehensive hesitation" looks to be sure for quite a few more years to come.
 

2004: Pats of PNG	An Aitape sunset from BH