The Pope is in Timor Leste: landed in Dili, the capital city
A flight of about three and a half hours took Francis to the predominantly Catholic Southeast Asian island, the third leg of the trip that will last until next Wednesday, before concluding in Singapore
Institutional the first appointments on the agenda with a visit to President Ramos-Horta and an address to the country’s authorities
With one week to go, the Pope’s apostolic journey to Asia touches the third of four scheduled stops. At 2:20 p.m., 7:20 a.m. in Italy, Francis landed in Dili, capital of Timor-Leste, the easternmost of the Sunda Minor Islands in Southeast Asia and where Catholics make up almost the entire population.
First engagements
At the “President Nicolau Lobato” International Airport, the Pope was welcomed by President of the Republic José Manuel Ramos-Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão, as well as by the apostolic nuncio Archbishop Wojciech Załuski, while as usual two children in traditional dress offered Francis flowers along with a tais, a traditional Timorese scarf.
After the protocol part with the execution of the years in front of the Guard of Honor lined up on the airport runway, the papal procession headed to the nunciature, from where Francis will depart by car shortly before 6 p.m. local time, for the first of the appointments on this leg of the trip, the welcoming ceremony and courtesy visit to the head of state and, around 7 p.m., the meeting with the political, diplomatic and civil authorities of Timor-Leste.