AFP Videos – France
Pope meets Singapore authorities before end of long tour
Pope Francis is due to address Singapore authorities on Thursday, the fourth and final stop on his regional tour, where his 48-hour visit is aimed at encouraging the development of the Catholic Church in Asia. Thirty-eight years after John Paul II, Francis arrived in the cosmopolitan city-state of six million people on Wednesday, the fourth and final stop on his ambitious tour of Southeast Asia and Oceania. Singapore, an independent state since 1965 and one of the most developed in Asia, particularly in terms of industry and technology, has been criticized for its respect for human rights and the severity of its judicial system, which still applies the death penalty. On Thursday morning, Jorge Bergoglio will be officially received in Parliament and will meet with President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. At 10:30 a.m. (0230 GMT), he will give his first speech to the authorities, the diplomatic corps and civil society at the University Singapore National University.”Singapore is a very small island with global ambitions. Like the Vatican, for other reasons, not economic but religious. So these two states have every interest in working together,” Michel Chambon, a theologian and anthropologist, researcher at the National University of Singapore, told AFP. Although it is not immune to racism and discrimination, Singapore is often hailed as a cultural melting pot with permissive laws, at least in matters of religion. Inter-religious dialogue will be one of the themes of this visit, with a meeting with young people planned for Friday. – “Very moved” – In the afternoon, Francis will preside over a large open-air mass at the national stadium, where some 50,000 faithful are expected. “I think I’m going to cry when I see it. “I’m already very moved,” said Welinda Elorde, 56, a Filipina businesswoman who hopes seeing the pope will help her recover from cancer. The visit could see the pope briefly discuss the delicate issue of relations with China, just weeks before the Holy See and Beijing are due to renew an agreement on the appointment of bishops. The tropical island is home to a majority Chinese population and significant Malay, Indian and Eurasian minorities. Christians make up about 19 percent of the population, most of whom are Buddhist. Despite his health problems and the hectic pace of the trip, the longest and most distant of his pontificate, the head of the Catholic Church has so far appeared in good shape, defying doubts about his ability to handle such a grueling journey and responding with a smile to numerous requests. The pope, who uses a wheelchair, displayed great resilience Tuesday during a huge crowd of 600,000 faithful at Dili, capital of East Timor, after a mass of nearly 2.5 hours in tropical heat. This 12-day tour will end on Friday after a 33,000 km journey in four countries (Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore).bur-cmk/ebe/lpa
Related News :