Up to 700,000 faithful, or half the country’s population: a human tide is expected on Tuesday in Dili, capital of East Timor, for the mass of Pope Francis, one of the highlights of his marathon tour in South-East Asia and Oceania.
After Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, the 87-year-old pope was welcomed like a rock star on Monday in this very Catholic country in Asia-Pacific, where his visit, the first since independence in 2002, has aroused extraordinary fervour.
On Tuesday morning, François’ convoy, like the day before, advanced through an impressive crowd bath in a delirious atmosphere, with tens of thousands of people gathered along the roads.
Escorted by security guards, the Pope greeted the crowd aboard his “Papamobile” to cheers and shouts, amid a cloud of mobile phones and the flags of the two countries.
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.
“We have no words to describe” our emotion, Isabel Deziza Rodrigues, a 45-year-old housewife, told AFP. “We just want to cry (…) We just keep it in our hearts.”
– Saturated networks –
The Pope’s mass will be held at 4:30 p.m. (0730 GMT) on the esplanade of Taci Tolu, a coastal area on the outskirts of the city, where thousands of people had already gathered early in the morning, AFP noted.
Some 300,000 people have officially registered, but hundreds of thousands more are expected outside, for a total estimated turnout of between 700,000 and 750,000, according to the Vatican and organizers.
Operators have warned that phone networks could be overloaded due to the crowds.
In 2023, around one million people attended the Pope’s mass in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, but the record is held by Manila, the capital of the Philippines, with six million faithful gathered in 2015.
In Dili, a city wedged between mountains and the turquoise waters of the Ombai Strait, the portrait of the Argentine pope is everywhere, on cars, billboards, clothes and shop windows.
On Tuesday morning, Jorge Bergoglio, a long-time grassroots pastor who listens to the most deprived, went to a school for disabled children in Dili where he was once again presented with the Tais, the country’s traditional woven scarf.
He was then due to deliver a speech to the local clergy in the city’s cathedral.
– “Honor of peace” –
This papal visit to the country — which saw the arrival of Catholicism by missionaries in the 16th century — is the first since its independence after centuries of Portuguese colonization and 24 years of Indonesian occupation (1975-1999).
“Going through such a dramatic period in your history, you have not lost hope and because, after dark and difficult days, an era of peace and freedom has finally dawned,” the pope said in his first speech at the presidential palace on Monday evening.
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.
Contrary to what was demanded by associations and human rights groups, the Pope, who promised “zero tolerance” on the issue, did not apologize to the victims, nor recognize the structural role of the Church in this violence.
Timor Leste also suffers from endemic corruption, severe gender-based violence, domestic violence against people with disabilities, and child labour remains commonplace.
“There are still many problems to be solved, but the Pope came here to bring good news,” said Felix Kosat, an Indonesian Catholic priest. “So let’s make changes.”
The visit recalls that of John Paul II in 1989, when the country was still under Indonesian occupation.
This is the third stop on Francis’ Asia-Pacific tour, the longest and most distant of his pontificate, which will end in Singapore, where he is expected on Wednesday.
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, defying predictions and doubts about his ability to make such a trip.
bur-cmk/ebe/lpa
