From September 2-13, 2024, Pope Francis will make the longest and most distant journey of his pontificate. He will be visiting Asia and, for the first time, Oceania. At 87, he’s also the oldest pope to travel.
Here is a look back at previous papal visits to the countries he will be visiting.
Papua New Guinea: John Paul II’s astonishing Polish connection
In 1972, six years before becoming pope, Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, then archbishop of Krakow, visited Papua New Guinea — then administered by Australia — to meet Polish missionaries from the Divine Word Society. Archival color footage posted on YouTube shows the future Polish pontiff visiting remote mountain villages in this little-known territory, where he gives communion to Papuans attending Mass in traditional dress.
One of the missionaries, Fr. William Kurtz (1935-2023), was later promoted to bishop in 1982 by his compatriot, by then pope.
A second visit, this time as the pope
Following Papua New Guinea’s independence in 1975 and his election as Roman Pontiff in 1978, John Paul II, attentive to the international visibility of the young decolonized nations, visited the country twice.
His first visit took place from May 7 to 10, 1984, as part of a genuine world tour that included Alaska (and a quick meeting with President Reagan), Korea, the Solomon Islands, and Thailand. Upon his arrival in the capital Port Moresby, the Polish pope evoked his personal memories of his 1972 tour, mentioning in particular “the beauty of the landscape” and “the rich diversity of your citizens, how you are composed of many different tribes, each with its own history and traditions.”
During celebrations in Port Moresby and in Mount Hagen, the country’s third-largest city, the Pope encouraged a “young and thriving Church,” also paying attention to the ecumenical dimension in a country that is around 20% Anglican.
John Paul II would return to Papua New Guinea from January 16 to 18, 1995, just after the WYD in Manila, Philippines, and before visiting Australia and Sri Lanka. The highlight of his visit to Papua was the beatification of Peter To Rot (1912-1945), the first Papuan martyr to be honored by the Church. This lay catechist, who administered his priestless parish during the Japanese occupation, was imprisoned, tortured, and executed for his opposition to the polygamy of a Christian policeman who had collaborated with the occupying troops.
Indonesia, an archipelago visited by Paul VI and John Paul II
The city of Jakarta, capital of an Indonesia that had emancipated itself from Dutch rule 22 years earlier, was visited by Paul VI on December 3 and 4, 1970. It was a stopover on the way from Australia to Hong Kong, as part of his extensive tour of Asia and Oceania, the ninth and final international trip of his pontificate.
In a brief address to Indonesian clergy, religious, and faithful gathered at Jakarta Cathedral, the Italian pope expressed his “hope of seeing the truth of salvation spread wider still in Asia; it is destined no less for this continent, since the Gospel must be preached to all creation,” he said.
During his meeting with General Suharto, Paul VI expressed his satisfaction with the “friendly relations established on an official level between the Indonesian nation and the Holy See,” greeting “your numerous people.” He welcomed the fact that “belief in one God” was “at the head of the five basic principles” of national life in this predominantly Muslim country.
Interreligious relations
President Suharto later welcomed John Paul II, who made a longer visit from October 9 to 13, 1989, as part of a tour that had previously taken him to South Korea and then Mauritius. The Polish Pope expressed his respect for the system of interreligious tolerance under Suharto’s regime.
“The philosophy of ‘Pancasila’ which has inspired and guided your national growth very fittingly recognizes that the only firm foundation of national unity is respect for all: respect for the differing Opinions, connections, customs and values which mark Indonesia’s many citizens,” said John Paul II. His words were controversial, with human rights organizations accusing the Pope of ignoring the regime’s abuses against the opposition and certain minorities.
In addition to Jakarta, the Polish pope visited Yogyakarta and Tuntungan, as well as Maumere and Doladero on the island of Flores, a stronghold of Indonesian Catholicism. There, he met many local seminarians, praising the positive dynamic of religious and priestly vocations.
John Paul II’s controversial stopover in Dili
But it was the stopover in Dili, East Timor (also known as Timor-Leste), which was at the time the victim of Indonesian army operations, that provoked the most comment and controversy.
“We are dying as a people and as a nation,” wrote Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, Apostolic Administrator of Dili and fervent advocate of Timorese independence, a few weeks earlier in a letter addressed to the Apostolic Nuncio in Indonesia and the UN Secretary General, among others. Estimates agree that the Indonesian army killed a quarter of the territory’s population, or 200,000 people out of 800,000.
The Mass celebrated by the Pope in the city on October 12, 1989, was relatively poorly attended in a climate of high tension between the police and some of the participants. While many had expected the Pope to give explicit support to the pro-independence cause, in his homily John Paul II confined himself to words of compassion for those who had “experienced destruction and death as a result of conflict.” He noted that the Timorese population knew “what it means to be victims of hatred and struggle. Many innocent people have died, while others have fallen prey to retaliation and revenge,” acknowledged John Paul II.
Too soft on the regime?
But the Pope disappointed some of those present with a prayer that came across as too cautious and general, “that those who have responsibility for life in East Timor will act with wisdom and good will towards all, as they search for a just and peaceful resolution of present difficulties.”
The Pope’s discretion in the face of the actions of the Suharto regime was interpreted by some observers as a carte blanche for this regime, which had effectively warded off the spread of communism, with the support of the West. East Timor’s independence was finally recognized by Indonesia, under pressure from the international community, in 2002, four years after the fall of Suharto.
Pope Francis’ visit, from September 9 to 11, will not be the first time a pope has visited Dili as a city, but the first time a pontiff has visited Timor-Leste as an independent state. The Bishop of Rome will visit a country considered the most Catholic in the world after the Vatican, with almost 98% of the population identifying as Catholic.
Singapore: John Paul II’s stopover in 1986
The city-state of Singapore was the site of a five-hour stopover by Pope John Paul II on November 20, 1986, as part of his Asian and Oceanian tour that also took him to Bangladesh, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, and the Seychelles. The high point of his visit was a Mass celebrated at the National Stadium in front of 80,000 people, the vast majority of the country’s 105,000 Catholics. Some 40 cardinals, 200 priests and groups from Thailand and Malaysia also took part in the liturgy.
In a long homily lasting almost half an hour, delivered in English, John Paul II paid tribute to the dynamism of Singaporean Catholics, and also invited the local Church to reject any policy of imposed family planning, a divisive issue in this small territory subject to strong demographic pressure.
The fundamental right to form families
“I wish to assure couples that the Church supports them as they strive to exercise responsibly their fundamental right to form families, to bear and rear their children without any type of coercion or pressure,” explained the head of the Catholic Church at the time. His words perplexed certain Protestant and Muslim leaders who had expressed a certain flexibility with regard to birth control techniques.
At the time, Singapore already had one of the lowest fertility rates in the world at 1.43, well below the threshold of natural renewal. This rate has fallen further, and now stands at 1.12. Singapore’s demography therefore relies heavily on immigration and the arrival of foreign workers, often on temporary contracts, which also represents a pastoral challenge for the local Church. This theme will certainly be at the heart of Pope Francis’ visit from September 11-13. The Argentine pontiff will thus be the second pope to visit Singapore, but the first to spend several days there.
And today we celebrate...