During his trip to Southeast Asia and Oceania, the Pontiff also visited Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
He Pope Francis heads this Wednesday to Singaporethe last destination of your trip through Southeast Asia and Oceania, the longest and furthest of his papal trips and one of the longest carried out by a head of the Catholic Church.
After a brief farewell ceremony in East TimorSoutheast Asian country of Catholic majoritythe Pope and his delegation left aboard the only plane of the local company Aero Dili, an Airbus A320.
During his visit to Timor Orientalthe Pontiff gathered on Tuesday 600.000 personas -almost half of the country’s population- in a mass that broke all records. He concluded his visit with a meeting this Wednesday morning with the young people of the countrywho make up the majority of the population of 1.3 million.
Pope Francis urged them to work together to shape the country’s future and build on the foundations of the older generations who secured its independence from Indonesia in 2002.
“Go forward with the joy of youth, but do not forget one thing,” he said, “: you are the heirs of those who persevered in the founding of this nation. Therefore, do not lose your memory, the memory of those who persevered with so much sacrifice to consolidate this nation.”
Finally, Francis warned the crowd to have beware of the “crocodiles” who disembark and “want to change your culture, your history.
It was an apparent reference to colonial past of East Timorbut also to its current appeal for international trade organizations eager to exploit their natural oil and gas reserves, which form the basis of the Timorese economy.
Pope Francis has been attacking multinational companies that exploit the natural resources of poor countries for their own benefit, without adequately compensating the local population or protecting the environment.
