Pope Francis’ Mass in East Timor Draws 600,000 Catholics, Almost Half of Country’s Population

East Timor is one of the world’s most Catholic countries, with 98% of its 1.3 million people identifying as Catholic. The country gained independence in 2002 after a long struggle with Indonesia, during which the Catholic Church played an important role advocating human rights.

The local government declared the three days of the pope’s visit as a national holiday in which nearly all of the streets and local businesses were closed with people flocking to the Esplanade of Taci Tolu in the capital city of Dili to take part in the papal Mass. 

Best friends Lareina Rosa Marcia Claver Da Cruz and Zuizina Abigael Maria Fatima de Jesus arrived at the Taci Tolu field with their families at 4:30 a.m. for the Mass that started at 4:30 p.m. to claim their spot in the front of the crowd. The 12-year-old girls said the wait in the hot sun was totally worth it, adding that it helped that they could keep each other company during the wait.

Both girls come from large families. East Timor is among the countries with the highest fertility rates in the world. In the years immediately following the country gaining its independence, the fertility rate was nearly seven children per woman.

Throughout Pope Francis’ time in East Timor he has celebrated the country’s high birth rate and big families.

“In East Timor it is beautiful, because there are many children: You are a young country where in every corner you can feel life pulsating and exploding. And this is a gift, a great gift: The presence of so much youth and so many children, in fact, constantly renews our energy and our life,” Pope Francis said.

“But even more it is a sign, because making space for children, for the little ones, welcoming them, taking care of them, and making ourselves small before God and each other, are precisely the attitudes that open us to action of the Lord.”

Despite East Timor’s offshore oil and gas reserves, the country’s population remains one of the poorest in Southeast Asia. 

During his visit, Pope Francis encouraged the developing country not to be blinded by the pursuit of prosperity at the expense of the poor.

“Let us ask together, in this Eucharist, each of us, as women and men, as a Church, as a society, to be able to reflect in the world the strong light, the tender light of the God of love, of that God who, as we have prayed in the Responsorial Psalm, ‘lift the weak from the dust, raise the poor from the rubbish, to make him sit among the princes,’” Pope Francis said in his homily.

The dusty field of Taci Tolu is the same spot where Pope John Paul II offered Mass in 1989 when East Timor was still under Indonesian occupation. Many Catholics in East Timor point to John Paul II’s visit as an important moment in their fight for independence.

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Fernando Egidio Amaral told CNA that he believes John Paul II’s visit “blessed” East Timor with its freedom.

Like many Catholics in Dili, Amaral traveled on foot with his wife and children from their house in Dili before waiting hours for the Mass to begin.

Prayers of the faithful were offered in six local languages: Mambae, Makasae, Bunak, Galole, Baiqueno, and Fataluku, reflecting the linguistic diversity of the small nation.

Pope Francis delivered a strong message to the crowd at the conclusion of the Mass using crocodiles, a revered animal in East Timorese culture who have also overrun some of the island’s beaches.

“Be careful! Because I’ve been told that on some beaches crocodiles come; crocodiles come swimming,” the pope said. “Be careful! Be careful of those crocodiles who want to change your culture, who want to change your history. Stay faithful. And don’t go near those crocodiles because they bite, and they bite hard.”

This Mass marked the culmination of Pope Francis’ visit to Asia’s newest country, which began on Monday when he arrived to enthusiastic crowds lining the streets of Dili for miles. 

East Timor is the third stop on the pope’s 11-day trip to four countries in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Earlier, he visited Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. He will conclude his journey on Friday in Singapore.