Indonesia Pope celebrates mass with hundreds of thousands in East Timor

On the penultimate stop of his longest foreign trip to date, Pope Francis celebrated mass with several hundred thousand people in the former civil war country of East Timor.

According to the local authorities, more than 600,000 believers took part in the open-air service near the capital Dili. In addition, tens of thousands lined the streets on the way there. Other public life was practically paralyzed. East Timor has a total population of around 1.5 million.

The country, which has only been independent from Indonesia since 2002, is one of the only two states in South East Asia, together with the Philippines, with a majority Christian population. As a result of colonization by Portugal, almost all inhabitants are Catholic. Because of the Pope's visit, all state institutions were closed for three days, including schools. Practically all stores were also closed.

Criticism in the run-up to the visit

There was criticism in the run-up to the visit because the state had confiscated several hectares of land for the open-air mass. According to non-governmental organizations, more than 180 families who had made their homes there were relocated. There were also protests because of the costs running into millions. Large sections of the population in East Timor live in poverty. In his sermon, Francis urged people not to abandon the poor.

President José Ramos-Horta, who received the Nobel Peace Prize together with Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo in 1996, was also present at the mass. The bishop, however, is now considered an undesirable person: after accusations of having sexually abused boys, he was reprimanded by the Vatican and can hardly be seen anymore. However, Belo is still popular among large sections of the population. Francis did not address the scandal in his sermon.

On Wednesday, the 87-year-old Pope will travel on to Singapore. He will return to Rome on Friday. Previous stops were Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. The twelve-day trip is part of the Argentine-born Pope's program to visit countries and people far away from Rome and on the margins of society.