Pope Francis goes off script in Asia, reminding the world he can still draw crowds

DILI, East Timor (AP) — It was the furthest trip of his pontificate. One of the longest papal trips But Pope Francis, 87, who suffers from aching knees and sciatica, appears to be having the time of his life.

As half of East Timor’s population gathered on a beachfront promenade, Pope Francis could only accept their invitation for one last good night, quietly cruising along in his popemobile, long after the sun had set and the square was lit up by the screens of mobile phones.

It was late, the heat and humidity had turned the Tacitol Garden into a sauna, and most of the journalists had already returned to their air-conditioned hotel to watch the Mass on television. But there was Francis, defying the doubters who wondered whether he could or should have made such an arduous journey to Asia with all that could go wrong.

“How many children do you have?” Francis asked the crowd of 600,000, the largest ever attendance at a papal event. Population ratio“A people who teach their children to smile is a people with a future.”

It seemed like this moment was proof that despite his age, his ailments, and the seven-hour time difference, Pope Francis is still capable of being pope, still loves being pope, and has the capacity to be pope as he was at the beginning of his pontificate.

This is only truer when he is in his element: at the edges of the world, among people forgotten by the great powers, where he can go off script to respond to the spirit of the moment.

That was certainly the case on his 11-day journey through Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore, covering nearly 33,000 kilometres (20,505 miles) by air alone. It was a trip he had originally planned for 2020 but Covid-19 intervened.

After four years and several hospitalizations (for intestinal and lung problems), Francis finally achieved his goal. He seemed to enjoy being out of the Vatican and away from the rigors of the Holy See after being confined for most of the year, during which he suffered from a long bout of bronchitis.

Pope Francis tends to rally people during his foreign trips, although he usually sticks to the script when in protocol meetings with heads of state, delivering speeches written in advance by Vatican diplomats.

But when he meets with young people or local priests and nuns, he tends to show his true colors. He drops his prepared remarks and speaks offhandedly, often engaging in back-and-forth exchanges with the faithful to make sure his message reaches their hearts.

Doing so thrills the crowd, terrifies his interpreters, and complicates the work of journalists, but you always know that Francis is having a good time and is energized when he acts inappropriately. He has acted inappropriately many times in Asia—and at the press conference he gave on the plane back to Rome, in which he urged American Catholics to vote for whomever they thought was better. “the lesser evil” To the president.

Francis started In Indonesiaarguably the most sensitive destination on his itinerary given that the country is home to the world’s largest Muslim population. The Vatican certainly won’t hesitate to say or do anything that might cause offence.

But since his first meeting with President Joko Widodo, Francis has appeared in a strong mood, praising Indonesia’s relatively high birth rate while lamenting that “some in the West would prefer a cat or a small dog.”

Francis has made the same demographic joke in his native Italy, which has one of the lowest birth rates in the world. But the high-profile trip meant Francis’s trademark sarcasm was amplified. American commentators immediately assumed Francis was tapping into the “childless cat ladies” debate rocking American politics, but there was no suggestion he was thinking of J.D. Vance.

Even at the most delicate moment in Jakarta, at the largest mosque in Southeast Asia, Francis threw protocol aside and kissed the Grand Imam’s hand, bringing it to his cheek in gratitude.

In Papua New GuineaFrancis was similarly delighted after successfully visiting a remote jungle location that seemed impossible for him to reach: the airport in Vanimo, population 11,000, does not have the wheelchair lift Francis now needs to get on and off planes, and bringing one just for himself was out of the question.

The stubborn Pope, who really wanted to go to Vanimo, ended up rolling down the back ramp of a C-130 cargo plane that Australia had offered to transport him, along with the metric ton of medicine and other supplies he had brought with him to the city.

Despite the serious security concerns that come with entering a region torn by tribal rivalries, Francis seemed to enjoy his visit to the forest, perhaps because he felt at home. Dozens of Argentine missionary priests and nuns had lived in Vanimo with the local community for years and invited him to come. They decorated the simple stage in front of the church with a statue of the beloved Argentine Virgin of Lujan, to whom Francis has a special devotion, and a gourd of Argentine tea was waiting for him.

In East Timor Pope Francis had to negotiate the most sensitive issue that could overshadow the visit: the case of Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo, a revered national hero who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent campaign for independence. The Vatican revealed in 2022 that it had sanctioned Belo, who now lives in Portugal, for sexually abusing young children and ordered him to cease contact with East Timor.

The pope did not mention Belo by name or meet his victims, but he stressed the need to protect children from “abuse.” Belo’s name was not mentioned in any official speech during the visit, during which East Timor’s painful history and struggle for independence were repeatedly recalled.

In Singapore, On his final stop, Francis again dropped his remarks when he arrived at the final event, a Singaporean youth meeting on Friday morning.

“This is the talk I prepared,” he said, pointing to his speech and then launching into a spontaneous dialogue with the youth about the need for courage and risk-taking.

“Which is worse: making a mistake because I follow a certain path, or not making a mistake and staying home?” he asked them.

He answered his own question, with an answer that might explain his risky decision to embark on his journey to Asia in the first place.

“A young person who does not take risks, who is afraid of making mistakes, is an old person,” the 87-year-old pope said.

“I hope everyone will move forward, don’t retreat, don’t back down, take the risks,” he said.

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