Nuns walk past a banner installed for welcoming Pope Francis ahead of his visit in Dili, East Timor, September 7, 2024. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan
(Reuters) - When Pope Francis touches down in the East Timorese capital of Dili this week he will be landing in a totally different nation to the one visited by his predecessor.
The last papal visit to Dili was in 1989, when Pope John Paul II arrived in territory then occupied by Indonesia, gifting East Timor's fledgling independence movement an historic boost and rare prominence on the global stage.
