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St. Mary's Cathedral, Port Moresby

Buildings and structures in Port MoresbyOceanian church stubsPapua New Guinean building and structure stubsReligion in Port MoresbyRoman Catholic cathedrals in Papua New Guinea
Roman Catholic church building stubsUse British English from February 2025

St. Mary's Cathedral is a religious building affiliated with the Catholic Church, in the city of Port Moresby, capital of Papua New Guinea,]. The cathedral is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Port Moresby (Archidioecesis Portus Moresbiensis) in the National Capital District. It was visited by John Paul II in May 1984. It is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The exterior is decorated with light blue and a white tower stands on one side of the main entrance.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article St. Mary's Cathedral, Port Moresby (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

St. Mary's Cathedral, Port Moresby
Musgrave Street, Port Moresby Ela Beach

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N -9.48081 ° E 147.14963 °
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St. Mary’s Cathedral

Musgrave Street
Port Moresby, Ela Beach
National Capital District, Papua New Guinea
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Port Moresby
Port Moresby

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: Pot Mosbi), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New Zealand. It is located on the shores of the Gulf of Papua, on the south-western coast of the Papuan Peninsula of the island of New Guinea. The city emerged as a trade centre in the second half of the 19th century. During World War II, it was a prime objective for conquest by the Imperial Japanese forces during 1942–43 as a staging point and air base to cut off Australia from Southeast Asia and the Americas. As of the 2011 census, Port Moresby had 364,145 inhabitants. An unofficial 2020 estimate gives the population as 383,000. The place where the city was founded has been inhabited by the Motu-Koitabu people for centuries. The first Briton to see it was Royal Navy Captain John Moresby in 1873. It was named in honour of his father, Admiral of the Fleet Sir Fairfax Moresby. Although Port Moresby is surrounded by Central Province, of which it is also the capital, it is not part of that province but forms the National Capital District. The traditional landowners, the Motu and Koitabu people, are represented by the Motu Koita Assembly. Port Moresby hosted the APEC summit in November 2018. However, there were concerns about security given the capital's reputation for violent crime.

Battle of Port Moresby
Battle of Port Moresby

The Battle of Port Moresby was an aerial battle fought between the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and United States Army Air Force (USAAF) on one side and the Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy on the other between 3 February 1942 and 17 August 1943 over Port Moresby, Papua. At the start, the defenders consisted only of Australian Army anti-aircraft batteries and machine-guns, but by late March had been strengthened by the arrival of Kittyhawk fighters from No. 75 Squadron RAAF. However, in just nine days they lost 11 aircraft and only the arrival of replacements enabled the unit to maintain ten serviceable machines. According to the Australian government: On 31 March, the Australians were joined by the American 8th Bombardment Squadron with A-24 bombers and for two weeks in May by six P-39 Airacobras of the American 36th Pursuit Squadron. Despite the American assistance, the daily air battles over and around Port Moresby by 1 May had reduced No. 75 Squadron RAAF to just three airworthy machines. The American 35th, and the full 36th, Pursuit Squadrons arrived to relieve the Australian squadron. During their time in Port Moresby 75 Squadron had lost 21 aircraft and 12 pilots. The Battle of the Coral Sea, which was fought mostly in the waters south-east of Papua in early May, diverted a Japanese naval attack against Port Moresby and removed the immediate threat. However, by May 1942 the Japanese had established themselves in the arc of islands north and east of the island of New Guinea as well as in the region around Lae and Madang on the north coast of the mainland.