Excitement is building in Timor Leste ahead of Pope Francis’ arrival today. The Pontiff is travelling from Papua New Guinea, as part of a four-nation tour of the region. The trip will be the first papal visit in 35 years to Timor- a deeply catholic nation.
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00:00Well, it's hard to believe any other country on this Asia-Pacific tour could match the
00:07excitement levels to see the Pope, like Timor-Leste, feels like pretty much the whole city of Dili
00:12is here. Thousands of people already lining the road, many hours before Pope Francis jets
00:19in here. It's not surprising this is one of the most Catholic nations in the world, and
00:24the church is so highly revered here because of its role in the Timorese resistance to
00:30Indonesian rule. So, little surprise that everyone is hoping to not just see, but maybe
00:36meet Pope Francis. I'm so happy because this is our dream for us, because our Pope comes
00:43to give us unity, give peace, it's like give us salvation for our country. There are though
00:49some sensitivities around this papal visit. A high profile former bishop was disciplined
00:55a few years ago for historic child abuse here in Timor, and an American Catholic priest
01:01was jailed for similar reasons. So, activists here in Timor are hoping that Pope Francis
01:08either engages with victims or at least publicly talks about the issue while he's here.
01:14Considering people, Timorese people really highly respected the church, we would like
01:21this progressive Pope to take a stand with the victims, to do a formal apology, to hug the victims.
01:30Pope Francis will be in Timor-Leste until Wednesday, and far and away the biggest event
01:35will be tomorrow when he celebrates mass with hundreds of thousands of people here in Dili.