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Papua New Guinea's electoral commissioner has been forced to reassure church leaders he is not asking the country's Governor-General to evoke an apocalyptic biblical prophecy.
Electoral Commissioner Patilias Gamato said church leaders were worried when they read a newspaper report saying PNG's Governor-General would sign 666 writs for the upcoming national elections.
That number is the same as the "mark of the beast" as mentioned in the Book of Revelation in the Bible.
Mr Gamato said he had to quickly dispel concerns that the number matched the biblical prophecy which deals with the "end times".
"Some Christian churches and ministries have held the view that the Governor-General was signing up the country for 666, the devil's number in the Book of Revelation," Mr Gamato said.
Papua New Guinea has 111 electorates and the Governor-General must sign a writ for each this month to mark the start of the election process.
Mr Gamato reassured church leaders at a pastors' meeting in Lae that the number 666 only reflected the fact there had to be six copies of each writ.
"We are a Christian country and we will uphold Christian principles and do the right things to honour God," he said.
"Such views are too shallow and are rejected outright."
The Book of Revelation says that in the end times a wild beast will appear and that people will be forced to bear its mark, which is the number 666.
Topics: offbeat, world-politics, christianity, papua-new-guinea, pacific