Pope Francis arrives in Timor-Leste; over half of country’s population expected at mass

DILI – Pope Francis arrived on Sept 9 in Timor-Leste – a predominantly Catholic nation in South-east Asia – for a three-day visit that will include an open-air celebration of mass, which the Vatican says may include more than half the population of 1.3 million.

The 87-year-old pontiff is on

an ambitious 12-day Asia-Pacific tour

, his longest overseas journey yet.

He came to Timor-Leste from Papua New Guinea, where on Sept 8

he delivered medical supplies

to a small town located at the edge of a vast jungle, in one of the most remote areas of the world.

Pope Francis landed in Timor-Leste’s capital Dili and was met at the airport by President Jose Ramos-Horta and two young women dressed in traditional costume, who offered him flowers and a tais, a woven ceremonial scarf, which the pontiff briefly wore.

Tens of thousands of people filled entire city blocks around the airport as the Pope left in a white, open-top vehicle. Many used umbrellas decorated in the white and yellow colours of the Vatican flag to protect themselves from the sun’s rays in the 31 deg C heat.

Timor-Leste, a half-island nation north of Australia, gained independence from Indonesia in 2002 after a brutal, decades-long occupation.

Pope Francis is the second pope to visit in 35 years, following the late Pope John Paul II, whose trip gave the country’s independence movement a historic boost.

In a speech to about 400 politicians, diplomats and civic leaders a few hours after arriving, Pope Francis said Timor-Leste had endured the “greatest suffering and trial”.

“We give thanks to God, since you never lost hope... and after dark and difficult days, a dawn of peace and freedom has finally arrived,” he said.

Mr Ramos-Horta thanked Pope Francis and called the Pope’s voice “so necessary in an increasingly disfigured world in which the coldness of hearts has replaced dialogue and peace”.

Timor-Leste, a Portuguese colony up until 1975, is likely the most Catholic country in the world, with the Vatican saying some 96 per cent of Timorese are adherents of the faith.

Organisers are preparing for some 750,000 people to attend a mass with Pope Francis on Sept 10 at the Tasitolu, a wide, dusty coastal area where Indonesian forces were known to have buried killed Timorese independence fighters.

Since independence, the country has struggled with rebuilding its infrastructure and economy.

The Asian Development Bank in 2023 said nearly 30 per cent of Timorese in employment earned less than US$2.15 (S$3) per day, and the World Bank estimated that 47 per cent of the children in the country are stunted because of malnutrition.

The Pope said there was a “need for collective and wide-ranging action” to address the economic challenges.

Although Timorese have remained overwhelmingly Catholic, the church in the country has been affected recently by abuse scandals.

In 2022, the Vatican confirmed it had sanctioned Timorese Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo following allegations that he sexually abused boys in Timor-Leste in the 1990s. It said the bishop, who now lives in Portugal and shared the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize with Mr Ramos-Horta for their independence efforts, had formally accepted restrictions to his movements and ministry.

In 2021, defrocked American priest Richard Daschbach was sentenced to 12 years in prison for sexually abusing girls under his care in Timor-Leste.

A leading abuse survivor advocacy group called on Pope Francis to speak openly about the cases during his visit.

“The Pope must denounce the two men by name,” said Ms Anne Barrett Doyle of abuse tracking group BishopAccountability.org. “His words could have an enormous positive impact.”

Pope Francis did not directly address the scandals in his remarks on Sept 9. But in a section of the speech about youth violence and the danger of gangs, he said “we are all called to do everything possible to prevent every kind of abuse and guarantee a healthy and peaceful childhood for all young people”.

Pope Francis is visiting Timor-Leste until Sept 11 as part of a tour that also included a stop in Indonesia. He travels next to Singapore before returning to Rome on Sept 13. REUTERS