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Pope Francis on Monday began a 12-day tour of Southeast Asia and South Asia, marking one of the longest foreign trips any pope has embarked on in the Holy See’s history.
The 87-year-old Catholic leader is first due in Indonesia before heading to Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Singapore. The trip — originally planned for 2020 but delayed to do the pandemic — will focus on promoting interfaith dialogue, highlighting climate change threats, and reinforcing the Catholic Church’s importance in Asia, The Guardian reported.
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Francis has previously visited several other Asian countries and has emphasized diversifying the Church’s leadership with Catholics from Asia. His visit to Indonesia — the world’s most populous Muslim nation — and Papua New Guinea — one of the world’s most ethnically diverse countries — will emphasize the Church’s role in promoting coexistence, religious leaders told CNN.
“The Catholic Church is no longer a Eurocentric or western institution but one where churches in Asia, Africa and Latin America have a growing voice,” CNN’s Vatican correspondent wrote.
The trip is also an attempt to promote closer ties to China, The New York Times reported. China and the Holy See do not have official diplomatic ties and no pope has been able to visit China. But Francis in 2018 made a secretive deal with Beijing for the appointment of bishops, and this trip is seen as an opportunity to “talk to countries he can’t go to,” a professor of theology told the Times.
Francis has also pledged “concrete commitment” to tackling climate change ahead of his trip, given that Southeast Asia is particularly susceptible to environmental catastrophes of floods and extreme heat.
Still, many are worried that Francis is too frail for such a grueling tour that involves more than 43 hours of air travel and meetings: He canceled an appearance at a Dubai summit last year because of health problems.