Pope Francis begins the international journey of his papacy on Monday, a 12-day journey to 4 nations in Southeast Asia and Oceania.
Francis, 87, will first head to Indonesia. Regardless of being essentially the most populous Muslim-majority nation on the planet, Indonesia can be house to eight.6 million Catholics.
He’ll then journey to Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Singapore. Of all of the stops, solely East Timor is a a lot of the inhabitants Catholic.
Well being points slowing pope down
That is Francis’ first main journey overseas this yr. Well being points have prevented the pontiff, who now usually makes use of a wheelchair, from extra in depth worldwide journey in recent times.
The journey was initially scheduled for 2020, however needed to be postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This journey, mixed with final yr’s go to to Mongolia, highlights the rising significance of Asia and Oceania to the Catholic Church. The area is without doubt one of the few on the planet the place the variety of devoted is on the rise.