Pope Francis arrived on Monday in East Timor, a predominantly Catholic nation in Southeast Asia. His three-day visit will include an open-air celebration of Mass may include more than half the population of 1.3 million.
The 87-year-old pontiff is on an ambitious 12-day visit to four countries across Southeast Asia and Oceania. This is his longest overseas journey yet.
He came to East Timor from Papua New Guinea, where on Sunday he delivered medical supplies to a small town. The town is situated at the edge of a vast jungle, in one of the most remote areas of the world.
Francis landed in Dili, the Timorese capital, on Monday afternoon. He was met at the airport by President Jose Manuel Ramos-Horta.
Tens of thousands of people filled entire city blocks around the airport as Francis left in a white, open-top vehicle.
East Timor, a half-island nation north of Australia, gained independence from Indonesia in 2002. Francis is the second pope to visit it, following John Paul II, who came in 1989.
The country is likely the most Catholic in the world, with the Vatican saying 96% of Timorese are adherents to the faith.
Organisers are preparing for around 750,000 people to attend a Mass with Francis on Tuesday. It will be held at Tasitolu, a wide, dusty coastal area.
Scandals In East Timor
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 the 1990s.
A year earlier, a defrocked American priest, Richard Daschbach, was also sentenced to 12 years. He was in prison for sexually abusing girls under his care in Timor.
A leading abuse survivor advocacy group called on Francis to speak openly about these cases during his visit. “The pope must denounce the two men by name,” said Anne Barrett Doyle, of the abuse tracking group BishopAccountability.org. “His words could have an enormous positive impact.”
The pope’s first address in the country will come later Monday, when Francis is due to address the political authorities.
Francis is visiting East Timor until Wednesday as part of a tour that also included a stop in Indonesia. He travels next to Singapore before returning to Rome on Sept. 13.
(with inputs from Reuters)
