September 9, 2024
Thematic image of Pope Francis. Pope Francis’s visit, part of a tour that includes stops in Jakarta and Singapore, is set to resonate in Dili, despite a string of abuse scandals that has plagued the church. PHOTO: UNSPLASH
Pope Francis visit keenly awaited in deeply Catholic Timor-Leste
The last papal visit to Dili was in 1989, when Pope John Paul II arrived in territory then occupied by Indonesia, gifting Timor-Leste’s fledgling independence movement an historic boost and rare prominence on the global stage.
