At a meeting with Timorese youth on September 11, 2024, Pope Francis said that young people must continue the great project of building the future of the country, which became independent “at the price of immense sacrifices” in 2002.
For his final stop in East Timor, one of the countries with the world's youngest population — under-15s account for 35% of the total — Pope Francis delivered a demanding message to young people.
True freedom isn’t lack of commitment
“Don't be deceived by the lure of a comfortable life without commitment, nor by the appearance of happiness, in reality empty and illusory, that consumerism and materialism may promise,” warned Pope Francis in his address.
The day before, at the end of a Mass celebrated before more than 600,000 Catholics, the Argentine Pontiff had already improvised on the need for the faithful not to allow themselves to be attacked by “crocodiles who want to change your culture, your history.”
The Pope, who regularly denounces “ideological colonization,” was referring here to certain anti-Christian influences from Western countries on the culture of this Southeast Asian island state of 1.3 million inhabitants.
To combat this temptation, the Pope delivered a short teaching on what true freedom is. “Being free does not mean doing whatever you want [...]. It means choosing, in all these things, the good -- respect, and love -- even when it costs us."
In a country still marked by the recent struggle for its liberation from Indonesian domination — finally achieved in 2002 — the Pontiff asked young people to take up the “great open construction site” of a society where “justice, cooperation, honesty, and unity” would reign.
“There is still much to be done at various levels: economic, political, and social,” acknowledged the Pope, who compared East Timor to a "‘veritable gymnasium of Gospel athletes’ called to become ‘champions of love.’”
Singapore, the last stop on a 12-day tour
After thanking the young people, the Pope made his way to Dili airport to board a plane chartered by Aero Dili. After a 4-hour flight, he arrived at Singapore's Changi International Airport at 2.15 pm local time. This is the last stop on the Pope's 12-day, four-country tour.
Pope Francis' visit to East Timor will be remembered for the enthusiasm of the country's 97% Catholic population. As soon as he arrived in Dili on Monday, tens of thousands of people lined up to greet Pope Francis in the Popemobile. On Tuesday, the open-air Mass was attended by 600,000 people, almost half the country's population.
On this trip 35 years after the visit of Pope John Paul II 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.
