Almost half the population of East Timor gathered this week for an outdoor mass held by Pope Francis.
The pontiff held East Timor's first papal mass on Monday with over 600,000 worshipers in attendance — a jaw-dropping turn-out for a country with a population of approximately 1.3 million.
"May the faith, which has enlightened and sustained you in the past, continue to inspire your present and future," Pope Francis told the gathered crowds. "May your faith be your culture, may it inspire principles, projects and choices in conformity with the Gospel".
Officials sometimes refer to East Timor as the second-most Catholic country in the world, beside Vatican City — a claim that's more serious than in jest.
Over 97% of the East Timorese people are Catholic and the faith is a foundational bedrock of the national culture.
The pope's arrival in East Timor on Monday marked the first papal visit to the intensely Catholic country since it became independent of Indonesia in 2002.
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Pope St. John Paul II visited the region in 1999 to support the Catholic population during their struggle for independence.
Activists at the time faced violent suppression and persecution from Indonesian authorities — the pope's visit marked a major shift in global attention towards the plight of the Timorese.
During his Monday visit, Pope Francis praised the Timorese people for their high birthrate and increasingly youthful population — an average of almost seven children per mother.
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"I wish for you peace, that you keep having many children, and that your smile continues to your children," Pope Francis said during the mass.
Pope Francis's stop in East Timor is part of his ongoing apostolic journey across four countries between Sept. 2 and Sept. 13.
The pontiff has already completed his visits to Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Following his departure from East Timor, the Holy Father is headed to Singapore for the final leg of his apostolic journey.
This is the 45th apostolic journey of Pope Francis' reign. His pontificate has been defined by the Holy See's outreach to Catholics in regions normally outside the attention of the Catholic leadership.
His trip to Indonesia, the largest population of Muslims in the world, was undertaken for the benefit of just 3% of Indonesians who are members of the Catholic Church.
The largest papal event by sheer attendance ever recorded was Pope Francis' 2015 mass in Manila, which drew between six million and seven million worshipers.
