Pope Francis treated himself to a gigantic crowd bath Tuesday with some 600,000 faithful in Dili, capital of East Timor, after presiding over a mass lasting more than two hours in stifling heat for this highlight of his marathon tour of Southeast Asia and Oceania.
In Taci Tolu, a vast dusty esplanade on the outskirts of the city, the 87-year-old pope – subjected to a frenetic pace for nine days – defied all predictions and fears for his health, not seeming at all bothered by the feeling of being in a furnace reinforced by the tropical humidity.
After the mass, he even took a 20-minute tour in the “Papamobile” along the aisles of the esplanade to bless the crowd, to cheers and a cloud of mobile phone flashes.
Some 600,000 people attended the mass in the square and adjacent streets, according to an estimate by local authorities reported by the Vatican, almost half the population of this country of 1.3 million.
Francis was welcomed Monday like a rock star in this very Catholic country in Asia-Pacific, where his visit, the first since independence in 2002, has aroused extraordinary fervor.
All day long, protecting themselves from the blazing sun under yellow and white umbrellas, the faithful converged on the esplanade while firefighters refreshed the crowd with water hoses.
“It’s like we have a new impetus for our lives, for the people of Timor-Leste, for peace,” Natercia do Menino Jesus Soares, 33, told AFP, wearing a cap, T-shirt and scarf with the pope’s image.
Dili underwent a $12 million (€10.8 million) renovation ahead of the visit, including $1 million spent on the pope’s altar, spending that has drawn criticism in one of the world’s poorest countries.
– “Crocodiles” –
At the end of the ceremony, the Pope improvised a few words to exhort the faithful to “be careful of the crocodiles who want to change your culture, your history” and “who bite a lot.”
Since Monday, François’ convoy has been greeted along the roads by a dense crowd in a delirious atmosphere, escorted by security services on edge.
The general jubilation reflects the enthusiasm generated by the event in this 98% Catholic country, where residents climb onto roofs and poles to receive a blessing or catch a glimpse of the man in white.
In Dili, the portrait of the Argentine Jesuit is everywhere, on cars, billboards, clothes and shop windows.
On Tuesday morning, before the local clergy in the cathedral, the pope pleaded against the “scourges that create inner emptiness and suffering, such as alcoholism, violence and lack of respect for women.”
– “Honor of peace” –
This papal visit to the country – evangelized by missionaries since the 16th century – is the first since its independence after centuries of Portuguese colonization and 24 years of Indonesian occupation (1975-1999).
Before the authorities on Monday, the Pope hailed the “era of peace and freedom” which “has finally dawned” after “dark and difficult days”.
He also urged leaders to “act responsibly to prevent any type of abuse” against “children and adolescents,” as the local church faces a child sex abuse scandal that it has long covered up.
Timor-Leste also suffers from endemic corruption, severe gender-based and domestic violence, and child labour remains commonplace.
Associations and NGOs have denounced the behavior of the police, who according to a video recording, brutally evacuated street vendors’ stalls and then arrested a journalist, rekindling their fears regarding respect for human rights in the country.
Before Francis, John Paul II was the only pope to visit Dili in 1989, when the country was still under Indonesian occupation.
This is the third stop on Francis’ Asia-Pacific tour, after Jakarta and Papua New Guinea.
This 33,000 km journey is the longest and most distant of his pontificate, since his election in 2013. It will end in Singapore on Wednesday before the pope leaves for Rome on Friday.
Despite his health problems and the hectic pace of the trip, the head of the Catholic Church has so far appeared in good shape and smiling, brushing aside doubts about his ability to handle such a grueling journey.
bur-cmk/ebe/ktr
