East Timor looks to the pope's visit as a reward after 20 years of fragile stability

East Timor looks to the pope's visit as a reward after 20 years of fragile stability

East Timor is in a festive mood as it prepares for the arrival of Pope Francis on his first trip to the deeply Catholic country, hard on the heels of the 25th anniversary of the referendum on independence from Indonesia.

Francis is due to arrive Monday in one of the world's poorest countries of 1.3 million people, also known as Timor-Leste, following visits to Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Banners and billboards have filled the streets of the seaside capital, Dili, to welcome the pontiff.

“The pope’s visit is the biggest, the best marketing anyone can aspire to promote the country, to put the country on the tourist map,” East Timor’s President Jose Ramos-Horta said in an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday.

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