An estimated 600,000 people — nearly half of East Timor's population — packed a seaside park on Tuesday for a Mass with Pope Francis.
The crowd was believed to represent the biggest turnout for a papal event ever, in terms of the proportion to the national population.
East Timor, located north of Australia, is probably the most Catholic country in the world. The Vatican says about 96% of Timorese are followers of the church.
The Mass was held on the same field where St. John Paul II prayed 35 years ago. It was during the nation’s fight for independence from Indonesia.
Tasitolu Park is said to have been a site where Indonesian troops disposed of bodies killed during their 24-year rule of East Timor. As many as 200,000 people were killed.
Now it is known as the “Park of Peace” and features a statue of John Paul. It honors his October 1989 Mass, when the pope shamed Indonesia for its human rights abuses.
But the issue of clerical sexual abuse is also hanging over this leg of the pope’s visit to the region. Revelations of mistreatment concerning high-profile East Timor clergy have emerged in recent years.
During his speech to the country’s political authorities, the pope called on them to tackle “every kind of abuse” to “guarantee a healthy and peaceful childhood for all young people.”
