Pope Francis, returning to the Vatican after a whirlwind trip to Mongolia last September, told reporters that international travel has become much more difficult, raising questions about whether the elderly pontiff will continue the jet-setting lifestyle he enjoyed during his first decade as pontiff.
After nearly a year of confinement, Francis, approaching 88 and continuing to battle a number of health problems, will embark on the longest journey of his papacy on September 2. The grueling 12-day trip to four countries in Asia and Oceania will test Francis' strength but also provide an opportunity to highlight some of the defining themes of his pontificate.
“Such a long journey is certainly unusual,” said veteran Vatican reporter John Tavis. “To do this at age 87 seems to me like Pope Francis is testing his limits and perhaps sending a message to his successors that he's still very much active and that this papacy is not a lame duck.”
The roughly two-week trip, which runs from September 2 to 13, will take the pope to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and Singapore. It will be his sixth visit to Asia and will fulfil a promised visit that was planned for 2020 but postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Francis has made it clear from the beginning of his presidency that he wants to focus on evangelization in Asia,” Tabis told the National Catholic Reporter. “Before Francis, it had been more than 20 years since a pope had visited the Far East.”
And given his age and physical limitations, Francis's trip, his 45th overseas trip since his election in 2013, could be a dramatic opportunity to further cement his commitment to interreligious dialogue, rebuilding social solidarity and raising awareness of environmental issues — not only to cement his own record on these issues within the church, but also to bring them to the attention of the wider world.
Interreligious dialogue focuses on climate change
When Francis' plane touches down in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, on September 3 after a 13-hour flight from Rome, the pontiff, who has dedicated much of his 11-year pontificate to inspiring world leaders in the fight against climate change, will begin an ambitious journey in a place known as the “sinking city.”
With an estimated 40 percent of Jakarta already below sea level and Indonesian leaders planning to move the capital because of rising sea levels, Jakarta will be an ideal setting for the pope to reiterate his call for global action to prevent environmental disaster.
And he doesn't just preach to Catholic choirs.
Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim-majority country and the fourth most populous, but Catholics make up just 3 percent of its 280 million inhabitants.
Given the country's unique religious makeup and the challenges it faces, during his visit to Indonesia the Pope is expected to revisit some of the central themes of two of his landmark encyclicals, “Laudato Si'” and “Fratelli Tutti,” which argue that the political, economic and social problems facing the world today must be addressed by deepening friendship across religious and geographical divides.
“The majority of the Muslim population accepts and supports the Catholic community as an integral part of the state,” said Jesuit Father Benedict Hari Juliawan, who is the Jesuit provincial in Indonesia.
Julia Wang told NCR that the country's Catholics “punch out of proportion” and that overall there is a “harmonious relationship” between the country's religions. Still, she said, some “small and radical” heretical groups have threatened Catholics with violence and tried to change the county's secular constitution to favor the majority religion.
Pope Francis is expected to avoid speaking out on many of the current political issues facing the country, but is due to make a symbolic visit to Jakarta's Istiqlal Mosque, the largest in Southeast Asia, which sits next to Indonesia's Catholic cathedral and is connected to it by a tunnel.
From Indonesia, the Pope will travel to the South Pacific nation of Papua New Guinea for a three-day visit to the capital, Port Moresby, and the small town of Vanimo.
Despite abundant natural resources, about 40 percent of the population lives in poverty due to unstable government, corruption, gang violence and natural disasters. Sister Imelda Suyay, who will be presenting, said the pope will have a unique opportunity to address local issues such as tribal conflicts, natural disasters, violence against women and girls and widening inequality.
From there, Francis will travel to East Timor, also known as Timor-Leste, the first papal visit to the country since it gained independence from Indonesia in 2002.
Around 98% of the population identifies as Catholic, making it the country with the highest percentage of Catholics in the world (excluding Vatican City). Traces of its time as a Portuguese colony remain strong in this small country.
“I can imagine that Pope Francis' advisers will tell him that for health reasons he should not make this visit. And I can also imagine that Pope Francis will make his own decision and act in his own way. That is characteristic of him as a pope.”
—John Tavis
“All the schools, Catholic and public, have religious services and a very Catholic atmosphere,” said Marist Brother Tony Caddy, who added that the local police choir also sings at mass.
While he said religion is widely respected, he hopes the pope's visit will help revitalize the church's efforts to prioritize fighting poverty and health disparities.
“The big challenge facing the church is to stay connected to all people and not become a church for the wealthy,” he told NCR. “The church must continue to focus on the people, their education and development, while preserving the pioneering spirit that helped Indonesia recover from years of occupation.”
One issue expected to heavily influence the pope's visit is the case of Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996 and retired for health reasons in 2002. In 2022, the Holy See confirmed Dutch media reports that it had secretly sanctioned Bishop Belo in 2020 for abusing boys and relocated him to Portugal. Many devout East Timorese continue to defend the bishop for supporting the peaceful independence movement, but many questions remain about the Vatican's response to the case.
Having traveled through poverty and destitution in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and East Timor, Pope Francis will end his journey in Singapore, Asia's richest country.
Michel Chambon, a research fellow at the National University of Singapore's Asia Institute, said it may seem odd for a pope who has prioritized solidarity with the poor and disadvantaged to end such a major visit in Singapore, home to big banking and commercial excess, but he said there is more synergy between the Holy See and Singapore than meets the eye.
“Singapore and the Vatican are very small countries with very big global ambitions,” he told NCR.
“Both countries need to engage with global trends to survive,” he said, adding that natural avenues for cooperation and partnership existed.
Moreover, Singapore is the most religiously diverse country on Earth, and it will be the Pope's final opportunity to delve into his message of peace and pluralism as he concludes his Asian tour.
Chambon noted that when the Pope hosts an interreligious dialogue event in Singapore, the event will take place in a Catholic school, rather than a mosque or other religious site.
He said venues like this demonstrate that Catholic schools welcome people of all faiths and no faith, making them natural places for interreligious dialogue.
“We grow together, we learn together and we live together,” Chambon said.
The Pope of the Frontier gives his final push
From the beginning of his papacy, the pope has always made the surrounding area a priority, making headline-grabbing visits to war zones, small Christian communities and Muslim-majority countries.
In that sense, the visit to this corner of the globe is almost ordinary, but given the realities of the pope's age and health, many also see it as a determined effort to continue to prioritize the causes and concerns to which he has devoted much of his papacy.
“I can imagine that Pope Francis' advisers will tell him he shouldn't go ahead with this trip for health reasons,” Tabis said, “and I can also imagine that he will make his own decisions and act in his own way. That's characteristic of him as the pope.”
“I don't think the pope is intimidated by the idea of being on the road for nearly two weeks – if anything, he's excited by the prospect of being away from the Vatican for that long. It's been nearly a year since his last foreign trip, during which his agenda was centered on internal church issues,” she added. “I think he's welcoming the chance to shift his focus to the wider world.”
