Historic turnout: A girl waving flags during the holy Mass led by Pope Francis at Tasitolu park in Dili. — Reuters
An estimated 600,000 people – a figure nearing half of Timor-Leste’s population – packed a seaside park for Pope Francis’ final Mass, held on the same field where St John Paul II prayed during the nation’s fight for independence from Indonesia.
While other papal Masses have drawn millions of people in more populous countries and there were certainly other nationalities attending yesterday’s Mass, the crowd in small Timor-Leste was believed to represent the biggest turnout for a papal event ever, in terms of the proportion of the population.
The Tasitolu park was a sea of yellow and white umbrellas – the colours of the Holy See flag – as Timorese shielded themselves from the afternoon sun awaiting Francis’ arrival for the afternoon service.
They got occasional spritzes of relief from water trucks that plied the field with hoses.
“We are very happy that the pope came to Timor because it gives a blessing to our land and our people,” said Dirce Maria Teresa Freitas, 44, who arrived at the field at 9am local time from Baucau, more than seven hours early.
Tasitolu is said to have been a site where Indonesian troops disposed of bodies killed during their 24-year rule of Timor-Leste.
Now it is known as the “Park of Peace” and features a larger-than-life-sized statue of John Paul to commemorate his 1989 visit, when the Polish pope shamed Indonesia for its human rights abuses and encouraged the overwhelmingly Catholic Timorese faithful.
John Paul’s visit helped draw attention to the plight of the Timorese people and the oppressiveness of Indonesia’s rule, during which as many as 200,000 people were killed over a quarter century.
Francis was following in John Paul’s footsteps to cheer on the nation two decades after it became independent in 2002.
Papal blessing: Wearing a traditional scarf from Timor-Leste, Pope Francis blessing some faithful with disabilities before presiding over a votive Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary Queen in Tasitolu. — AP
Timor-Leste, formerly known as East Timor, remains one of the poorest countries, with some 42% of its 1.3 million people living below the poverty line, according to the UN Development Programme.
But the Timorese are deeply faithful – the territory has been overwhelmingly Catholic ever since Portuguese explorers first arrived in the early 1500s and some 97% of the population today are Catholic.
They have turned out in droves to welcome the first pope to visit them as an independent nation.
Government authorities said some 300,000 people had registered through their dioceses to attend the Mass, but President Jose Ramos-Horta said he expected 700,000 and the Vatican had predicted as many as 750,000.
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni cited crowd estimates by local organisers that 600,000 people were attending in the Tasitolu park and surrounding areas.
They lined up before dawn to enter the park, on the coast about 8km from downtown Dili.
With hours to go until the service, the roads leading to it were jammed by cars, trucks and buses packed with people; others walked down the middle of the street, ignoring the sidewalks.
Temperatures reached 31°C and felt even hotter with humidity over 50%.
“For us, the pope is a reflection of the Lord Jesus, as a shepherd who wants to see his sheep, so we come to him with all our hearts as our worship,” said Alfonso de Jesus, who also came from Baucau.
Sister Maria Josefa, a nun from Cape Verde who has lived in Dili for five years, said Francis was right to speak out generally about “abuse” when he arrived in Dili on Monday, saying his were words of compassion, even if he didn’t mention former Dili bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo by name.
Belo won the Nobel Peace Prize with Ramos-Horta for their efforts to peacefully resolve the Timorese conflict.
But Belo has since had his reputation discredited, at least outside of Timor-Leste, after the Vatican revealed in 2022 that he had been sanctioned for sexually abusing young boys.
Belo now lives in Portugal and is blocked by the Vatican from having contact with Timor-Leste.
Francis has cheered Timor-Leste for the progress it has achieved since independence and is seeking to encourage the country to strengthen its public institutions and look out for the poorest and most vulnerable.
Francis arrived in the country on Monday and visited a home for disabled children run by a congregation of religious sisters yesterday morning.
Young girls, including one without arms, presented Francis with a traditional woven shawl known as a tais as he arrived at the Irmas Alma school.
As he stroked the hand of a young boy named Silvano in a stroller, Francis said taking care of children with such health needs “teaches us to care”.
“As he allows himself to be cared for, we must learn to be cared for by God, who loves us,” Francis said. — AP
