He is 87 years old and in recent years has battled health difficulties and begun using a wheelchair. But Pope Francis is embarking on the longest trip of his pontificate. <\/p>\n
On Monday, the pontiff starts a marathon 12-day visit of four countries in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific: Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste and Singapore. It is one of the longest foreign trips any pope has embarked on and marks the furthest geographical distance (32,814 kilometers or about 20,000 miles ) thatFrancis has travelled since his 2013 election. <\/p>\n
The landmark visit will allow this pope to highlight key themes of his pontificate, including inter-religious dialogue and protection of the environment. <\/p>\n
The trip also underscores a significant shift taking place inside the Catholic Church: its tilt to Asia. <\/p>\n
During his pontificate, Francis\u2019 44 previous foreign visits have included South Korea, Japan, Philippines, Thailand, Myanmar and Bangladesh. He has also appointed cardinals from the Philippines (Luis Antonio Tagle) and South Korea (Lazarus You Heung-sik) to senior positions in the church\u2019s central administration. <\/p>\n
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. Francis, who as a young man wanted to be a missionary in Japan, has spoken favorably about male and female church leaders coming from countries outside of Europe. <\/p>\n
Catholics in Asia are often in the minority, although they frequently punch above their weight when it comes to running schools and charitable works. <\/p>\n
\u201cThepope is interested not so much in the number of Catholics as the vibrancy,\u201dsaid Spadaro, who will be travelling with Francis. In many Asian countries, the Jesuit priest explained, the church seeks to act as a \u201cleaven\u201din trying to serve the \u201ccommon good,\u201d while Asia \u201crepresents the future at this time in the world\u201d. <\/p>\n
Often a minority, the churches in Asia are focused on dialogue with other religions, something that will be a central theme of the trip. <\/p>\n
While in Indonesia, the world\u2019s most populous Muslim majority country, the pope will take part in a meeting with religious leaders at the Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, the largest in Southeast Asia. Afterwards, Francis will sign an interfaith declaration with the grand imam of Indonesia and is also expected to visit an underpass linking the mosque and the Catholic cathedral next door known as the \u201ctunnel of friendship.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cThe pulse of the churches here is quite different from say, those in Europe or US where issues like polarization, secularization and abuse have dominated the headlines,\u201d she added. <\/p>\n
Spadaro said the \u201cpope wants to give a signal about dialogue with Islam,\u201d and points out that in Timor Leste, the government has adopted a landmark human fraternity document \u2014 signed by Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb \u2013 as a national text. <\/p>\n
Timor Leste is unusual for Asia as 97% the population identifies as Catholic, the highest proportion outside of the Vatican City State. <\/p>\n
Michel Chambon, who works at the National University of Singapore and is an expert on Asian Catholicism, said the pope\u2019s visit will help build relations and mutual understanding with these countries. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe key thing is that the Vatican is not a European state, it is much more than that,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Vatican\u2019s relationship with China, an officially atheist state where religious practice is heavily curtailed by the government, will be in the background to this visit with Francis pushing ahead with trying to rebuild diplomatic relations with Beijing. <\/p>\n
Catholicism is one of five state-recognized faiths in China. But, state-sanctioned Catholic churches were, for decades, run by bishops appointed by Beijing, not the Holy See, until the two sides reached an agreement in 2018. Details of the accord have never been made public and many within China\u2019s underground congregations who have remained loyal to Rome and long faced persecution fear being abandoned. <\/p>\n
Although the Holy See-China agreement has faced criticism, the Vatican says the deal is already paying off and hopes to open a permanent office in China. The pope has repeatedly said he would like to visit the country. <\/p>\n
Supporters of the patient diplomacy strategy point to the Holy See\u2019s improved relationship with another Communist-governed country: Vietnam. After years of talks, the pope was able to appoint the first resident ambassador in Hanoi at the end of last year. <\/p>\n
Francis\u2019 trip will also see him in a part of the world at risk of rising sea levels and natural disasters, with Papua New Guinea a country on the front line of the climate crisis. During his pontificate, the pope has insisted that the protection of the planet is a pressing moral issue, and his trip to the pacific is a chance once again to urge world leaders to take stronger action. <\/p>\n
Making this lengthy trip now, after more than 11 years as pope, sends a message to those, including at senior levels in the church, hoping that this pontificate is running out of steam. Spadaro says it underlines the \u201cliveliness of the pontificate at this moment.\u201d <\/p>\n
Francis will travel, as normal, with a doctor and two nurses. There are risks with making such a long and gruelling visit at his age. But this is a pope willing to take risks and pull off surprises. And he is determined to make one of the most ambitious trips of his pontificate. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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