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GRUELING TOUR. This handout picture taken and released on Monday by the Vatican Press Office shows Pope Francis meeting a religious official at Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Later in East Timor, he appeared in good spirits after landing from Papua New Guinea for the third stop of a grueling 12-day Asia-Pacific tour, waving and smiling to a swarm of devotees trying to catch a glimpse of him.
“This will be a proud moment for me and my family, I think also for all the people of Timor-Leste,” said a waiting 42-year-old Nunsia Karmen Maya. The city has had an expensive makeover before the visit and authorities have relocated poor street-dwellers, including vendors in areas where Francis will travel, prompting criticism on social media.
Francis is the first pope to visit the country, where about 98 percent of its 1.3 million people are Catholics, since its independence more than two decades ago.
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