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Pope Francis' plane landed in Singapore on September 11, 2024, at 2:52 p.m. local time (8:52 a.m. Rome time), just under an hour behind schedule. The Pontiff's stay in the “Lion City” will be the last stop on his 12-day journey across Asia and Oceania.
The Pope's plane left Dili, capital of East Timor, at 12:24 p.m. local time (5:45 a.m. Rome time) and flew for four hours, over the atolls and volcanoes of the Indonesian archipelago, before reaching the small city-state, one of Asia's most developed countries.
Unlike on the previous stops on his trip (Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and East Timor), the Pope did not disembark on the tarmac of the ultra-modern Changi airport, but reached the terminal via a footbridge. He was greeted by the country's Minister of Culture, Community, and Youth, with whom he spoke briefly before being taken to his local residence, the St. Francis Xavier spiritual retreat house.
Compared to East Timor, the welcome that Pope Francis received at the Singapore airport was sober: Only a group of around 100 people came to greet the Pope. In Singapore, religious events are subject to strict regulations and must be registered.
The Pope’s schedule in Singapore
The 87-year-old Pope's first day is not very busy, as his only scheduled appointment is a private meeting at 6:00 p.m with members of the Society of Jesus who live in Singapore.
Tomorrow, he will meet with the country’s political and religious authorities and celebrate a Mass at a stadium. Then on Friday, September 13, he will meet with a group of elderly and sick, have an interreligious meeting with young people, and then finally take a flight back to Rome, concluding this record trip counting 12 days away from the Vatican.
The crowds and energy of East Timor
Pope Francis three-day visit to East Timor will be remembered by observers due to the enthusiasm of the country’s 97% Catholic population. As soon as he arrived in Dili on Monday, tens of thousands of people flocked to greet Pope Francis in the popemobile.
On September 10, the open-air Mass he celebrated was attended by more than 600,000 people, almost half the country's population. The government had declared three days of public holiday due to the Pope’s presence.
Thirty-five years after Pope John Paul II’s visit and 22 years after the country's liberation, Pope Francis encouraged the young Timorese nation to continue the process of “full reconciliation” and nation-building in a speech to the political representatives on September 9.
During his trip he also met with a group of children with disabilities, the clergy and other local Church members, local Jesuits, and with young people.
“I also come from the ends of the world, but you more than me. And I like to say it – precisely because it is at the edge of the world, it is at the center of the Gospel!,” Pope Francis told the clergy, religious and other Church members on September 10.
He called on them to preserve “this gift of the Gospel that the Lord has given to the land of Timor-Leste, and spreading the fragrance,” referencing the Gospel of St. John (12: 1-11) where Mary anoints Jesus with perfume.
