Day Two in Timor-Leste: A country ‘at the centre of the Gospel’

By Linda Bordoni - Dili

Timor-Leste is a young country, both because it only became an independent nation in 2002, but also because the average age of the population is 20.

And it is true, it is striking for a European to see so many children and young people in the streets, something that was clearly not lost on Pope Francis who remarked on the hope such a reality carries with it during Mass on Tuesday afternoon.

"How wonderful that here in Timor-Leste there are so many children!" he said during his homily, "Indeed, you are a young country, and we can see every corner of your land teeming with life."

The Mass was the highlight of the Pope’s visit to this overwhelmingly Catholic country where some 600,000 people gathered at Tasitolu Field, the same venue where St. Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass in 1989 when the country was under Indonesian control.

It was breathtaking to see the ocean of yellow and white umbrellas – the colours of the Vatican - held up by the faithful to shield themselves from the relentless sun.

Earlier in the day, the Pope rode through the city of Dili, where thousands thronged the route to see him waving flags and shouting “Viva Papa”. Many cried openly for joy and emotion. First, he visited a centre run by missionary Sisters for disabled children. Then he went to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception to greet the bishops, priests and clergy and to express gratitude to the multitude of missionaries who care for the weakest and the small.

To them, he said thank you for choosing to live your mission in a country that is “at the ends of the earth.” “Exactly because it is at the ends of the earth,”  he continued, “it is at the centre of the Gospel!“ and with a beautiful message of closeness, he said: “I rejoice with you and for you because you are the disciples of Christ in this land.“