The Vatican has confirmed what will be the longest Apostolic Journey of Pope Francis’ Pontificate: from September 2 to 13, he will visit four countries in Asia and Oceania.
In a statement released this Friday, April 12, the Press Office of the Holy See reported that the Holy Father will visit the capitals of Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore for 11 days upon returning from the summer.
For the moment, the Holy See has not yet offered the details of the program of this long trip, accepted after the invitation of the respective Heads of State and ecclesiastical authorities.
The choice of these destinations consolidates Pope Francis’ willingness to visit Catholic minority countries, to bring hope and his closeness to the faithful, even if that requires travelling — literally — to the other part of the world. It should be noted that Indonesia is the country with the most Muslims in the world (there are 240 million), while Catholics only represent 2.9% of the population.
The confirmation from the Vatican also shows the already evident improvement in the health of Pope Francis, who since the end of February has suffered from a serious cold that on several occasions has prevented him from fulfilling his agenda.
This will be the 45th Apostolic Journey of the Holy Father and the first one he makes outside Italy in 2024. The last one was to Marseille, to participate in the conclusion of the Mediterranean Meetings, from September 22 to 23, 2023.
It should be remembered that the scheduled trip to Dubai at the beginning of December 2023 had to be cancelled due to his health problems.