Pope Francis will next week begin his two-week apostolic visit to Asia and Oceania, in a trip expected to include religious, economic and social contrasts. Source: CNS.
Visiting four nations from September 2-13, the 87-year-old Pope will be making the longest trip of his pontificate, both in terms of distance covered and days away from the Vatican.
The trip will include predominantly Muslim Indonesia and predominantly Christian Papua New Guinea, as well as Singapore, Asia’s economic powerhouse, and Timor-Leste, one of the world’s poorest nations.
Plans were being made for the trip in September 2020, but everything was halted because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pope Francis not only is four years older, but now regularly uses a cane, a walker or a wheelchair to get around.
The 45th trip of his pontificate is expected to focus heavily on interreligious dialogue, ethnic harmony, care for creation, concern for immigrants and gratitude for the work of missionaries and the church’s contribution to education and health care.
His visit will begin in Indonesia, which has the largest Muslim population of any country in the world; Catholics account for only about 3 per cent of the population.
Then he will move on to Papua New Guinea, where an estimated 98 per cent of the population is Christian.
Timor-Leste is the only nation on the itinerary where Catholics are the majority; the Vatican estimates 96 per cent of the population belongs to the Church.
In Singapore, Buddhists make up the largest religious group – about 31 per cent – followed by 20 per cent of the population claiming no religious belief; Christians account for almost 19 per cent of the population and Muslims about 15 per cent.
Pope Francis will not be the first Pope to visit any of the countries on his itinerary. St Paul VI visited Indonesia in 1970 and St John Paul II went to the country in 1989; on the same trip, St John Paul visited Timor-Leste, which celebrated its independence from Indonesia in 2002.
The Polish pope visited Papua New Guinea in 1984 and again in 1995. In 1986, St John Paul visited Singapore, though he stayed only five hours – enough time to celebrate a public Mass, meet government officials and speak to the nation’s priests.
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On the road again: Pope to visit Asia, Oceania in September (By Cindy Wooden, CNS via USCCB)
