Frail pope to travel to Singapore and other parts of Asia in September in his longest-ever trip
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis will take his first overseas trip of the year and the longest of his 11-year papacy, travelling to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and Singapore from Sept 2 to 13, the Vatican said on Friday (April 12).
The Asia and Oceania trip has been on the papal agenda for some time, but there had been doubts on whether the 87-year-old pontiff would embark on it given his increasing frailty and a record of skipping engagements due to health problems.
His last international journey was a two-day stay in Marseille, France, in September. In November, he pulled out of a trip to the COP28 climate conference in Dubai because of a lung inflammation.
Francis is now scheduled to be in Jakarta between Sept 3 to 6, Port Moresby and Vanimo between Sept 6 to 9, Dili Sept 9 to 11 and Singapore Sept 11 to 13, his spokesman said in a statement.
Vietnam, which had been suggested by Vatican officials as a possible further destination during the nearly two-week long Asia and Oceania trip, was not mentioned.
In recent months, the pope has been suffering on and off from what the Vatican has described as a cold, bronchitis and influenza, and he needs a wheelchair or a cane to move around due to a knee ailment.
His agenda this year also foresees Italian day trips to Venice on April 28, Verona on May 18 and Trieste on July 7, and a visit to Belgium whose dates have not been confirmed, but expected in the second half of September.
The Argentine pope, the first from the so-called Global South, has made reaching out to Asia one of the priorities of his pontificate, during which the Vatican has struck a historic, yet contested, deal with China on bishop appointments.
Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation and