Sr Maria Gabriellis PRR, third day in Asmat • Momugu, 2014
Sr Maria Gabriellis PRR, third day in Asmat ⢠Momugu, 2014
Sister Maria Gabriellis, a congregational Catholic nun, interacts with an Asmat in front of the Je Ti feasthouse construction in Momugu.
Catholicism arrived in Asmat for the first time in 1953 and has been central to religious life in Asmat, although Asmats still cling onto their own religious feasts.
The Je Ti feasthouse, when checked in 2015, was unfortunately ordered to be torn down by the local parish priest, who believed they had violated their own sacrilegious rituals and thus offend their ancestors. The failure to complete the stages of the Je Ti feast also lead some to believe that it is the cause of the sudden widespread of leprosy attacking Momugu. The sisters are then called to help the leprosy sufferers.