On September 2, Pope Francis embarks on a 12-day tour of four distant Asian countries. This is the longest and most distant trip that the 87-year-old Francis has undertaken since he became head of the Roman Catholic Church in 2013, France Press, Associated Press and Reuters, quoted by BTA, recall.
The tour is a bold step aimed in part at showing those who doubted Francis' ability to lead the church because of his health problems and advanced age that they are wrong and he can still fulfill his duties, France said. pres.
The four countries the Pope is visiting tomorrow are in Southeast Asia and Oceania and are Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore.
During this odyssey, the Pope will travel nearly 33,000 kilometers (32,814 kilometers, to be exact) kilometers, fly nearly 44 hours by plane and deliver 16 major speeches, global agencies and the Italian publication Avenire summarize" . Four of the speeches will be given in Indonesia, 5 - in Papua New Guinea, 4 - in East Timor and 3 - in Singapore. All speeches will be in Italian except for those in East Timor, where the Pope will speak in Spanish, notes "Avenire".
The trip was planned for 2020, but then the Pope postponed it because of the coronavirus pandemic. Now it will take place three months before the Pope turns 88 in December.
But until a few months ago, there were still doubts as to whether Francis would actually embark on this venture. On Catholic Easter, he had respiratory problems, and since 2022 he has been in a wheelchair due to knee pain. His health has been weakened lately by the flu, and he has even canceled some engagements on doctor's advice. A year ago, the Pope also underwent major abdominal surgery. And a few years ago, he also underwent a complex intestinal operation. In addition, as a young man, the pope also lost part of his lung.
All of this has led observers to question whether it is wise for Francis to continue to preside over huge masses in stadiums, participate in large ceremonies and hold numerous meetings. This hectic work schedule, combined with an eight-hour time difference during the trip to Southeast Asia and Oceania, causes anxiety for some. But according to representatives of the Vatican, the Pope thought that this year he would manage such a trip, until next year things were no longer so certain, notes France Press.
The Pope himself does not intend in any way to abandon some elements of the protocol during the tour of the four countries. With this 45th trip abroad, Francis becomes the oldest pope in the history of the Roman Catholic Church to travel abroad.
During his Asian odyssey, Francis will travel with his personal physician and two other medics, but there will be no additional health personnel to accompany him, explained the director of the press office of the Holy See, Matteo Bruni. According to him, the health measures introduced during every apostolic trip of the Pope are sufficient. However, France Press recalls that during the Pope's trip to Africa in early 2023, an over-equipped ambulance followed him everywhere. Similar measures can now be envisaged, to which local hospitals will be included. But there is no such information officially.
The delegation accompanying the Pope, however, in addition to the usual cardinals, bishops and guards, will also include the personal secretaries of the head of the Roman Catholic Church, notes the Associated Press and comments that this is a novelty.
The Pope's busy schedule during the tour still includes one day of rest - in Jakarta after a 13-hour flight there.
According to Professor Andrea Ungar, president of the Italian Society of Gerontology, the Pope's trip shows once again his mental strength and illustrates that despite his age the Pope can still act.
Francis has not traveled abroad since his visit to Marseille in September 2023. Last November, he was supposed to be a guest at the COP 28 world climate meeting in Dubai, but on the recommendation of doctors, he gave up the trip, the Associated Press adds.
Now the Pope's tour will fit into an autumn busy with foreign trips, France Press recalls. Having just returned to Rome from this long odyssey, Francis will have to leave for a visit to Luxembourg and Belgium at the end of September. In October, the Synod for the future of the church will take place. And in December, the Pope will mark the official beginning of the Jubilee of the Roman Catholic Church, which is celebrated every 25 years and lasts a whole year. This pilgrimage will bring to Rome and the Vatican 32 million worshipers from all over the world.
What exactly are the stages of Pope Francis' tour.
Indonesia - September 3-6
Francis will arrive on September 3 in Jakarta, on the Indonesian island of Java. Jakarta is the capital of the largest Muslim country in the world. In it, Catholics are less than 3 percent of the population, that is, 8 million people compared to 242 million Muslims.
Dialogue between Islam and Christianity will be at the center of this leg of Francis' trip. An interfaith meeting is planned at the largest mosque in Southeast Asia. It will be attended by representatives of six official religions - Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Confucianism. On the same day, the Pope will celebrate a big mass at the stadium in Jakarta.
Experts and observers point to growing discrimination against religious minorities in Indonesia, and particularly against Christians in some areas of the country. Vandalism against temples and harassment of worshipers have been reported. There are calls for the government to take measures to better respect religious freedoms in the country.
Following Pope Paul VI in 1970 and Pope John Paul II in 1989, Pope Francis is the third head of the Roman Catholic Church to go to the Indonesian archipelago of 17,500 islands that stretch 5,000 kilometers and span three time zones, France Press
recalls
Papua New Guinea - September 6-9
After Indonesia, the Pope goes to Port Moresby, the capital of the multi-ethnic Pacific nation of Papua New Guinea. There are 800 local languages in the country, and almost half of the population is Christian, with Protestants dominating. There are also followers of many local religions in the country with their own specific rituals.
Papua New Guinea is a former Australian colony with a population of 9 million. In 1984 and 1995, Pope John Paul II visited there.
Inter-tribal violence is a regular occurrence in Papua New Guinea. In January, there were deadly riots against a government decision to cut wages.
Pope Francis' visit to this country shows that he is attached to the fringes of Christianity. During his visit, the Pope may renew his calls for environmental protection in a country also marked by deforestation and regularly affected by natural disasters.
For a day, he will fly to Vanimo, a jungle town of 10,000 in the far northwest of Papua New Guinea, where he will meet with worshipers and missionaries.
East Timor - September 9-11
Pope Francis will be the first pope to visit East Timor since the country's independence in 2002 after four centuries of Portuguese colonization and 24 years of Indonesian occupation from 1975 to 1999. East Timor is a poor country , with 1.3 million inhabitants. 97 percent of its population is Catholic. That is why the upcoming visit of the Pope there is generating great enthusiasm.
During his visit, in the capital Dili, Francis will have a meeting with disadvantaged youth. He can use the occasion of the visit and touch on the topic of sexual assaults in the Church at a time when East Timor remains strongly marked by the "Affair Belo". Carlos Felipe Jimesen Bello is a former bishop and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996 for his work for the independence of East Timor. But he was accused of sexual assaults on minors, carried out over twenty years, and was sanctioned by the Vatican in 2020, France Press recalls
Singapore - September 11-13
Thirty-eight years after the visit of John Paul II, Pope Francis will conclude his tour of Asia with a 48-hour visit to Singapore, a city-state that is very cosmopolitan and that is densely populated with 6 million inhabitants.
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The country has been independent since 1965 and is one of the most developed in Asia, particularly in the field of industry and technology. However, it has come under criticism for its respect for human rights and the strictness of its judicial system, which still applies the death penalty.
The tropical island is home to many Chinese and has large Malaysian, Indian and Eurasian minorities. Christians make up only 19% of the population, which is mostly Buddhist.
In Singapore, Pope Francis will celebrate mass at the national stadium, meet with elderly people. He will also participate in an inter-religious meeting.
Each of the stages of Francis' longest and most distant tour is expected to touch on topics related to the environment, climate change, immigration and the Church's role in access to health care and education, Reuters and France summarized pres.
The purpose of the visit is generally to strengthen the role of the Holy See among the local Catholics, to create a community in this remote place, says Michel Cambon, a theologian and anthropologist, researcher at the National University of Singapore. "If the Holy See wants to show its universality, it should also touch on Asian traditions, which are increasingly playing a big role in the international order," he added.
The Pope will mainly take his message of urgent action in the fight against climate change to Asia, Reuters notes. In the countries where he will stop during his tour, the dangers of climate change are obvious - rising sea levels, more intense heat waves and more powerful typhoons. Jakarta, for example, is slowly sinking, and this has forced the authorities to proceed with the construction of a new capital on the island of Borneo, a project that costs 32 billion dollars.
Overall, the pope's visit to Asia will show that the continent is of strategic importance to the Roman Catholic Church, notes Shihoko Goto, director of the Indo-Pacific program at the Wilson Center, a Washington-based think tank.
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According to "Avenire" the Pope's tour can be defined as a real mosaic. Francis goes to countries with different levels of development, with different peoples, with a diversity of religions, cultures and languages, with diverse internal problems, with different destinies. These are the pieces of the mosaic of Francis' journey. During this trip, the Pope will try to assemble these elements of the colorful mosaic into a message that will read "Strive for unity in diversity".
In Indonesia and Singapore, the Pope will devote time to interreligious relations. In East Timor, he will address a country that has recently discovered its identity. In Papua New Guinea, he will dedicate himself to the missionary mission of the church in the most remote corners of the earth. In all countries, the Pope will also recall what he said a few days ago, that "The Earth is sick", that its temperature is high, that it needs urgent treatment, the agencies note.
And last but not least, the visit will be another stage of the Pope's efforts to improve the ties of the Roman Catholic Church with China in the interest of the 12 million Catholics in the Asian giant, notes the Associated Press. Usually, when flying through Chinese airspace, Francis sends congratulatory telegrams to the Chinese leadership and to the Chinese people, as a gesture of friendship and respect, the agency recalls.