Pope Francis’s mass in East Timor has been attended by around 600,000 Catholic faithful – nearly half of the country’s population.
The pontiff completes the penultimate leg of his marathon tour through Asia and the South Pacific on Tuesday before he heads to Singapore for his final stop.
A sea of yellow and white umbrellas – the colors of the Holy See flag – was seen at Tasitolu Peace Park in the capital Dili, where the pope received a rockstar’s welcome in scorching 32C heat.
A Vatican spokesperson said 600,000 people attended the first part of the mass in the tiny country with a population of just 1.3 million, the vast majority of whom are Catholics.
The Vatican cited crowd estimates provided by local organizers in Tasitolu Peace Park and the surrounding area
Francis is the first pope to visit East Timor since it gained independence in 2002, and the only pope to make a trip there at all apart from John Paul II, whose visit 34 years ago gave the country’s independence movement a historic boost.
The Pope urged the people to do “everything possible to prevent every kind of abuse and guarantee a healthy and peaceful childhood for all young people”.
The Pope is making the long foreign trip of his papacy even as he faces several health challenges and uses a wheelchair due to knee and back pain. He has appeared in good spirits despite the long air travel and social engagements in three countries he has covered so far.
He began his trip in Indonesia before flying to Papua New Guinea and will conclude his 12-day tour in Singapore. He will return to Rome on 13 September.
