Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Sister Susana Vaifale of the Missionaries of Faith has lived in Rome for more than ten years and worked at the Vatican's St Peter's parish office.

She told Pacific Waves that when she met the Pope in 2022 for an "ad limina" visit with the bishops from Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands, she was lost for words.

"When I was there in front of him, it's like a blur, I couldn't say anything," she said.

Sister Vaifale said although she was speechless, she thought of her community back home in Samoa.

"In my heart, I brought everyone, I mean my country, my people and myself. So, in that time... I was just looking at him and I said, 'my goodness' I'm here, I'm in front of the Pope, Francis... the leader of the Catholic Church."

Sister Vaifale said she was at the Easter celebration in St Peter's Square where Pope Francis made his last public appearance.

However, the next day it was announced that Pope Francis died.

The news shattered Sister Vaifale, who was on the train when she heard what had happened.

"Oh, I cried, yeah I cried... until now I am very emotional, very sad."

"He passed at 7:30... I am very sad but like we say in Samoa: 'maliu se toa ae toe tula'i mai se toa'.. so, it's all in God's hands."

The Leung-Wai family from South Auckland are in Rome and joined the long queue to pay their final respects to Pope Francis lying in state at St Peter's Basilica after having met the Pope in 2016.

Fatima Leung-Wai and her siblings Martin and Ann-Margaret are proud of their Catholic faith and are active parishioners at St Peter Chanel church in Clover Park.

The family's Easter trip to Rome was initially for the canonisation of Blessed Carlo Acutis - a young Italian boy who died at the age of 15 to leukemia and is touted to be the first millennial saint.

Plans changed as soon as they heard the news of the Pope's death.

Fatima Leung-Wai said it took an hour and a half for her and her siblings to see the Pope in the basilica and the crowd numbers at St Peter's Square gets bigger each day.

Despite only seeing Pope Francis' body for a moment, Fatima Leung-Wai said she was blessed to have met him in 2016 for World Youth Day in Krakow, Poland.

She said Pope Francis was well engaged with the youth.

"I was blessed to have lunch with him nine years ago," Fatima Leung-Wai said.

"Meeting him at that time he was like a grandpa, he was like very open and warm and very much interested in what the young people and what we had to say."

KIRIBATI HUMAN RIGHTS

The human rights record of Kiribati is to be examined by the United Nations Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review Working Group on Monday.

It will be webcast live from Geneva, Switzerland.

Kiribati is one of 14 states to be reviewed by the Working Group during its session from 28 April to 9 May.

This is the fourth time Kiribati's record will be reviewed - the last time was in 2020.

ABANDONED BABY

A new-born baby was found reportedly abandoned in the bush at Duran Farm, Port Moresby on Good Friday.

Daniel John Gere, the man who discovered the baby, said she was left abandoned about 2.5 metres away from the road with her umbilical cord still attached.

He told The National that the baby was wrapped in a black K1 shopping bag.

Gere said he and two others nearby were afraid to pick up the baby for personal reasons and notified a woman who was passing by.

The woman, Aileen Joe, got the baby checked by medical officers who said she was healthy but her bottom was sore because of ant bites.

She said she reported the situation to Gordons Police Station and has adopted the baby.

NORTHERN MARIANAS AIRPORT

A Pacific island airfield — once used to launch the planes that dropped two atomic bombs on Japan in World War II — is being brought back to life.

The US military is restoring the 80-year-old facility on the island of Tinian in the Northern Marianas as it beefs up security in the Pacific.

The US Air Force said it is rehabilitating the airfield so it can "rapidly deploy and sustain forces in the region".

Work on two of the four runways is expected to finish in May.