Pope Francis visits East Timor on marathon tour

Pope Francis arrived in East Timor on Monday, September 9, where he was greeted by a huge and demonstrative crowd gathered along the roads of Dili, the capital of this predominantly Catholic country, where his visit has aroused extraordinary fervor. The last papal visit to East Timor was by John Paul II in 1989, when the country was still under Indonesian occupation.

After Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, Francis landed at 2:20 p.m. local time in Dili for the third leg of the pontiff’s marathon tour of Asia-Pacific, the longest and most distant of his pontificate, which will continue on Wednesday in Singapore and end on Friday.

The pope, who appeared in good shape despite a hectic pace over the past week and who received a sash as a sign of welcome, was greeted by President Jose Ramos-Horta at the airport, closed to civilian flights for three days. He was then cheered on his way by tens of thousands of people carrying official flags and umbrellas in the yellow and white colours of the Vatican and bearing the coats of arms of the two states and the logo of the visit.