VATICAN CITY (RNS) — In an unmistakable contrast to the emptying churches that surround him in Europe, Pope Francis encountered fields and churches filled with scores of Catholics as he arrived Monday (Sept. 9) in the Pacific nation of East Timor, giving him a firsthand impression of Asia’s growing Catholic community.
Francis landed in Dili, the capital, for a 48-hour stop on his two-week tour through Asia. More than 95% of East Timor’s 1.4 million people are Catholic. Pope John Paul II visited the region in 1989, and he is credited with inspiring its people to gain independence from Indonesia, in 2002.
Francis was met by cheering crowds of young people that greeted him at political and religious events alike. Roughly 70% of the population of East Timor is under the age of 30, according to local government data.
The papal trip culminated with an open-air Mass on Tuesday attended by 600,000 Timorese, according to Vatican estimates, many of them sheltering from the scorching heat at the vast Tasitolu field under umbrellas.
“How wonderful that here in East Timor there are so many children. Indeed, you are a young country and we can see every corner of your land teeming with life,” the pope said in his homily. “What a great gift it is that so many children and young people are present, constantly renewing the freshness, energy, joy and enthusiasm of your people.”
Francis’ visit started on Monday with local political and diplomacy representatives. At the Presidential Palace Hall, Francis also contrasted Timor’s relative youth with the aging population of Western nations.
“I think of two countries in Europe where the average age is 46 and 48. Yet among you, 65% are under 30 years old, so we can think that the average age will be around 30, or a little less. This is a richness,” he said.
The pope encouraged the local government to invest in education, and he laid out his idea of how young generations and the elderly should dialogue to build a better society — a recurring theme of Francis’ pontificate that rarely makes headlines.
“I would like to give a piece of advice: Bring children and grandparents together. The encounter between children and grandparents brings about wisdom. Please reflect on that. Together, youthful enthusiasm and wisdom are a great resource that do not allow for passivity, still less for pessimism,” he said.
During his brief visit, the pope often warned against the threats facing modern society and globalization, which he claimed fuel a secular model through cellphones and social media. But the church’s influence in the country has been lessened by recent scandals, which saw a high-profile cleric, Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo, accused of sexually abusing young boys.
“Let us not forget the many children and adolescents whose dignity has been violated,” Francis told local authorities, only indirectly addressing the scandal, and urging the church and society to do “everything possible to prevent every kind of abuse and guarantee a healthy and peaceful childhood for all young people.”
On Tuesday, as the pope spoke to the large crowd of mostly young people and families, he warned young children against “crocodiles” who offer empty promises and rob them of their history.
Pope Francis attends the meeting with young people in Centro de Convencoes in Dili, East Timor, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)
“Be careful! Because I’ve heard that crocodiles may come to some beaches; the crocodiles can swim, and their bite is stronger than we can manage. Be careful! Watch yourselves from those crocodiles who want to change your culture, who want to change your history. Remain faithful!” Francis said in an off-the-cuff remark at the end of his homily.
The pope also visited children with disabilities at the Irmãs Alma School and later met with Catholic clergy at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. As he encouraged the local church to spread the gospel in a spirit of fraternity, tolerance and welcoming, Francis noted that the number of priests in the country was so great that many could not fit in the large cathedral.
“Many of the youngest — seminarians, young religious — remained outside. And now, when I saw the bishop, I told him that he has to enlarge the cathedral because it is a grace to have so many vocations! Let us thank the Lord and let us also thank the missionaries who came before us,” Francis said.
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The pope concluded his visit to the country with a meeting with 3,000 young people at the Dili Convention Center on Wednesday. There, he listened to the testimonies of four young adults, who greeted “the pope of the young,” asking him questions about cellphones, social media, combating violence and climate change.
Francis let loose during the meeting, speaking casually with the young people gathered around him. He encouraged them to “not be deceived by consumerism and materialism and their promise of a comfortable and uncommitted life, which give the appearance of happiness but in reality are empty and illusory.”
Instead, the pope invited Timorese youth to “make the world a better place” where “justice and prosperity continue to spread for all people.” Francis left two important messages for the youth, which he has repeated many times to young people everywhere: “Young people must make a mess and young people must respect the elderly.”
After the energy-fueled meeting, the pope embarked on the last leg of his journey ending in Singapore, where he is expected to address the challenges of modernity and technological development and appeal to the local Chinese community.
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