On September 2-13, 2024, Pope Francis will embark on an apostolic visit to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and Singapore.
By Devin Watkins
Pope Francis will visit three countries in Asia and one in Oceania in early September, the Holy See Press Office announced on Friday.
He accepted invitations from heads of state and local church authorities to go abroad on his 43rd apostolic mission.
The Pope will leave Rome on September 2 and return on September 13.
He will first go to Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, where he will land on September 3 and stay until September 6.
Pope Francis flies east to visit Papua New Guinea's capital Port Moresby and Wanimo on September 6-9.
His next visit will be to Timor-Leste's capital, Dili, on September 9-11.
From there, the Pope will leave for Singapore on a 3-day visit from September 11-13.
According to the Holy See Press Office, the full program of his apostolic visit will be published at a later date.
Local Catholic population
Pope Francis first mentioned the possibility of a trip to the region in December 2023.
In an interview with Mexican broadcaster N+, she said she hopes to sell „Polynesia” in August and travel to her native Argentina later that year.
Later, in January 2024, the Pope told an Italian newspaper interviewer Print He will visit Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.
Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim-majority country, and Catholics number more than 8 million, or 3.1 percent of the population.
About 32 percent of Papua New Guinea's population is Catholic, numbering about 2 million.
Timor-Leste is predominantly Catholic, making up about 96 percent of the population, with more than 1 million people.
About 395,000 Catholics live in Singapore, about 3 percent of the population.
. „Gracz. Namiętny pionier w mediach społecznościowych. Wielokrotnie nagradzany miłośnik muzyki. Rozrabiacz”.