Nearly half of Timor-Leste's population turned out for an open-air Mass held by Pope Francis this week.
The pope celebrated his first Mass in East Timor on Monday, attended by more than 600,000 faithful — a remarkable turnout for a country of about 1.3 million people.
“May the faith that has inspired and sustained you thus far continue to inspire you in your present and your future,” Pope Francis told the assembled crowd, “may your faith become your culture and inspire principles, plans and choices that are in line with the Gospel.”
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Believers react during Holy Mass led by Pope Francis at Tasitolu Square in Dili, Timor-Leste. (Dita Alankara/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
Officials sometimes refer to East Timor as the second-most Catholic country in the world after the Vatican City, a claim they take seriously and not jokingly.
More than 97% of Timor-Leste people are Catholic, and their faith is at the core of their national culture.
The Pope arrived in East Timor on Monday, his first papal visit to the devoutly Catholic country since it gained independence from Indonesia in 2002.
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Pope Francis took part in a holy mass for the people of Timor-Leste, one of the world's most devoutly Catholic countries. It was the first time a sitting pope has visited the region since the East Timorese won independence in 2002. (Willy Kurniawan/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
In 1999, Pope St. John Paul II visited the region to support the Catholic struggle for independence.
At the time, activists were facing violent repression and persecution from Indonesian authorities, but the Pope's visit marked a sea change in global attention to the plight of the East Timorese people.
During his visit on Monday, Pope Francis praised the Timorese people for their high birth rate and increasingly young population, with an average of nearly seven children per mother.
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A believer holds up a cross during Holy Mass led by Pope Francis at Tasitolu Park in Dili, East Timor. (AP Photo/Dita Alankara)
“I pray that you will have peace, that you will have many children, and that you will pass on your smiles to your children,” Pope Francis said during the Mass.
Pope Francis' visit to Timor-Leste is part of his continuing papal journey, which will take him to four countries from September 2 to September 13.
The Pope has already completed visits to Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. After leaving Timor-Leste, he will travel to Singapore for the final stop on his apostolic journey.
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Pope Francis gestures as he leaves after celebrating Mass in Tacitol Square. The Pope is currently on an apostolic journey to four countries in Asia and Oceania. This is the 45th apostolic journey of his papacy. (Dita Alankara/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
This is the 45th apostolic journey of Pope Francis' papacy, during which the Holy See has engaged in outreach to Catholics in areas usually overlooked by Catholic leaders.
His journey to Indonesia, home to the world's largest Muslim population, was undertaken because only 3% of Indonesians are followers of the Catholic Church.
The largest papal event ever held in terms of attendance alone was Pope Francis' Mass in Manila in 2015, which drew between six and seven million faithful.
