Pope back home after epic Asia-Pacific tour
ROME—Pope Francis returned to Rome on Friday after a 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific, defying health concerns to connect with believers from the jungle of Papua New Guinea to the skyscrapers of Singapore.
The papal plane carrying the 87-year-old pontiff touched down in Rome shortly before 7 p.m., bringing to a close Francis’ longest trip in duration and distance since becoming head of the world’s nearly 1.4 billion Roman Catholics more than 11 years ago.
The Argentine pope’s epic four-nation voyage was believed by some to be foolhardy, if not impossible, for someone plagued in recent years by health issues, from knee pain and sciatica forcing him to use a wheelchair to recent bouts of flu and bronchitis.
But the successful voyage and his rapturous welcome in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore clearly energized the pope—who nevertheless at times struggled to keep his eyes open during late-night liturgies, or to appear engaged during formal military parades.
In a lively, final interreligious meeting in Singapore on Friday, the pope joked with young people in the audience, urging them to respect other beliefs, avoid being “slaves” to technology and to escape their comfort zones.
‘Get fat’
“Don’t let your stomach get fat, but let your head get fat,” the pope said, raising a laugh from the crowd.
“I say take risks, go out there,” he said. “A young person that is afraid and does not take risks is an old person.”
The historic tour, initially planned for 2020 but postponed by the Covid-19 pandemic, included 43 hours of flight time and a distance of 32,000 kilometers.
But neither the pace—16 speeches and up to eight hours of time difference—nor the heat, nor multiple meetings forced any rescheduling of Francis’ international odyssey.
Outer edges
On a trip that took him to the outer edges of the Catholic Church’s world, the pope delivered a sometimes uncomfortable message for leaders not to forget the poor and marginalized.
In sweltering Papua New Guinea, one of the Pacific’s poorest and most troubled nations, he donned a Bird of Paradise headdress in a remote jungle village where he told inhabitants to halt violence and renounce “superstition and magic.”
Addressing political and business leaders, he said the country’s vast natural resources should benefit the “entire community”—a demand likely to resound in a nation where many believe their riches are being stolen or squandered.
And in staunchly Roman Catholic East Timor, nearly half the population, or about 600,000 ecstatic believers, showed up in the tropical heat to a celebration of Mass on the island’s coast.
Era of ‘peace’
In addressing East Timor’s leaders, Francis hailed a new era of “peace” since independence in 2002, but called on them to do more to prevent abuse against young people, in a nod to recent Catholic Church child abuse scandals.
During the pope’s last leg in Singapore, he called for migrant workers—who provide cheap labor in the affluent city-state and elsewhere around the world—to be treated with dignity.
“These workers contribute a great deal to society and should be guaranteed a fair wage,” Francis said.
