Michael Rose – On Tuesday afternoon last week, around half the population of Timor-Leste, at least 600,000 people, attended a mass held by Pope Francis in Dili.

A'an Suryana, Norshahril Saat – Last week's visit by Pope Francis to the world's largest Muslim country came at a sensitive time.

Devianti Faridz, Jakarta, Indonesia – During his three-day visit to Indonesia last week, Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church, urged Indonesians to live up to the promise repre

Dili – Pope Francis on Monday (Sep 9) called for action on abuse of young people after arriving in Timor-Leste, the Catholic-majority nation that has been shocked by several child sexua

Niniek Karmini – East Timor has been criticised for the cost of Pope Francis' historic visit.

Dili – Pope Francis arrived on Sept 9 in Timor-Leste – a predominantly Catholic nation in South-east Asia – for a three-day visit that will include an open-air celebration of mass, whic

Shannon Brincat – Timor-Leste has had much to celebrate recently.

Dili – When Pope Francis becomes the first pontiff to visit Timor Leste, he will confront a clergy beset by child abuse scandals that have been largely ignored by the deeply Catholic co

Jayapura – The arrival of Pope Francis in Dili, the capital of East Timor, on the afternoon of Monday September 9, was welcomed by the Catholic community.

Ato 'Lekinawa' da Costa, Dili, Timor-Leste – A solidarity group for the independence of West Papua raised West Papuan flag during Pope Francis' visit to Timor-Leste.

Harlyne Joku and Sue Ahearn, Vanimo, Papua New Guinea, and Melbourne – A visit by the head of the Catholic Church Pope Francis to a small remote town in north-west Papua New Guinea has

Niniek Karmini, Dili, East Timor – East Timor pulled out all stops for Pope Francis' historic visit to one of the world's youngest and poorest countries to the tune of $12 million, draw

Dili – When Pope Francis touches down in the Timor-Leste capital of Dili this week, he will be landing in a totally different nation to the one visited by his predecessor.

Jakarta – The warm welcome afforded by the Indonesian people and government to Pope Francis during his three-day stay in Jakarta shows how eagerly awaited was his arrival.

Erwin Renaldi – Pope Francis has just left Indonesia as part of his historic, ambitious tour of South-East Asia and the Pacific.

Dorian Malovic, Jakarta – "Papua has been living a nightmare of unimaginable violence for over half a century.

Rita Padawangi – A group of around 20 youths went to the foot of the altar after the Pope's mass, unfurling banners of protests.

Fitri Ramadhani, Jayapura – Pope Francis' visit to Indonesia is expected to bring a fresh breeze to the land of Papua.

Jakarta (Agencies) – Only rockstars and presidents can usually fill the Gelora Bung Karno stadium, but on Thursday it was octogenarian Pope Francis who drew more than 80,000 fans to a C

Indigenous Christians in Papua province took to the streets on Sept.

Ato 'Lekinawa' da Costa – A Timorese scholar, Josh Trindade, currently pursuing a PhD at the Indigenous Knowledge Institute, Australia has issued a public demand for Pope Francis to apo

Sultan Abdurrahman, Daniel A.

Jakarta – Pope Francis praised Indonesians on Wednesday for their large families and suggested that people in other countries are choosing to have pets rather than bring up children.

Victor Mambor and Tria Dianti in Jayapura and Jakarta – Hundreds of indigenous Papuans staged protests on Wednesday to highlight ongoing violence and displacement in the conflict-torn P

Michael Rose and Ivo Mateus Goncalves da Cruz Fernandes – Next week, Timor-Leste will welcome Pope Francis, its first papal visit in 35 years.

Nanda Perdana Putra, Jakarta – A protest action was held by a number of people across from the Vatican Embassy in ??South Jakarta shortly before Pope Francis returned from the Merdeka P

Bella Evanglista, Faisal Maliki Baskoro, Jakarta – Pope Francis, the leader of the global Catholic Church, arrived at Merdeka Palace on Wednesday morning to meet with President Joko "Jo

Pope Francis' visit to Indonesia from 3 to 6 September 2024 should be a momentum to urge Indonesia to stop gross human rights violations and provide redress for past atrocities or injus

Andreas Harsono – Pope Francis is in Indonesia as part of a 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific region.

Winda Nelfira, Jakarta – Amnesty International Indonesia hopes that Pope Francis' visit to Indonesia on September 3-7 can be used as a momentum to urge the Indonesian government to reso

Sui-Lee Wee and Emma Bubola – The hallelujahs rang out on Sunday from a small hall on the outskirts of Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia.

Pope Francis, 87, landed in Muslim-majority Indonesia on Tuesday for a visit dominated by inter-faith ties, at the start of an ambitious four-nation tour that will be the longest of his

Jakarta – The impending visit of Pope Francis to Indonesia this week could not be more timely, coming as it does after a tumultuous period during which the country's democracy again ros

Hariz Baharudin, Jakarta – Indonesia is stepping up security for Pope Francis's visit next week – his first stop on his 12-day tour of Asia, with snipers being deployed and thousands of

Niniek Karmini, Maumere, Indonesia – Arnoldus Yansen thought for certain he was going to become a Catholic priest, just like his older brother, cousin and uncle.

Dili, East Timor – When the Vatican acknowledged in 2022 that the Nobel Peace Prize-winning, East Timorese independence hero Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo had sexually abused young boys, i

Sas and Vonia Vieira, Dili – As always in Timor-Leste, there was a prayer before the big event. Minutes later, the bulldozers rolled in.

Timor-Leste President Jose Ramos Horta has termed the preparations for the upcoming visit of Pope Francis a "logistical nightmare" due to various challenges, but expressed hope everythi

Hundreds of Indonesian Catholics who would otherwise miss out on an audience with Pope Francis in their country will join him in neighboring Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste thanks to s

Syukri Rahmatullah, Jakarta – GP Ansor, the Islamic youth organization affiliated with Nahdlatul Ulama, recently met with Indonesian Ambassador to the Holy See Michael Trias Kuscahyanto

Syukri Rahmatullah, Rome – Addin Jauharudin, known as Gus Addin and Chairman of Gerakan Pemuda (GP) Ansor – the youth wing of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Indonesia's largest Islamic organizat

Syukri Rahmatullah, The Vatican – Pope Francis endorsed a declaration promoting religious tolerance on Wednesday by signing a document presented by a delegation of young Indonesian inte

Larius Kogoya, Sentani – Leading members of the West Papua Council of Churches (WPCC) consider the installation of banners celebrating the 79th Anniversary of the Republic of Indonesia,

Despite being mineral-rich, conflict-torn Christian-majority region among the poorest and most underdeveloped provinces

Antonio da Costa, Dili – Rights groups are questioning Timor-Leste, an impoverished Asian nation, for allocating US$12 million for Pope Francis' visit next month, including US$1 million

Top leaders of Indonesia's two major Islamic organizations have expressed their enthusiasm for the upcoming visit of Pope Francis to their nation, calling it a special occasion to embol

Dioceses bordering Timor-Leste and the Indonesian government are collaborating to help Catholics attend the papal visit to the Catholic-majority Asian nation in September.

Pope Francis met on Monday with East Timorese president Jose Manuel Ramos-Horta in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace.

Church officials in Timor-Leste have dismissed a media report on the abusive treatment of students and substandard food in a seminary as false, terming it an attempt to tarnish the imag

A senior Vatican official in Timor-Leste has lauded the government's commitment to providing annual financial assistance to the Catholic Church, calling it a long-term investment in peo