Pope Francis arrives in Timor-Leste as abuse scandal remains a major theme of his visit

Pope Francis has landed in Timor-Leste – the only predominantly Catholic country he will visit during his 12-day Asia-Pacific tour.

Some 700,000 people – more than half of Timor-Leste’s population – are expected to attend an open-air Mass the Pope will celebrate near the capital Dili later on Tuesday.

Enthusiasm for the papal visit is high, but campaigners are urging the Pope to address the recent abuse scandal that has tainted the Church in Timor-Leste, formerly known as East Timor.

A prominent bishop, hailed as a hero of the independence struggle, has been accused of sexually abusing boys in the Southeast Asian nation in the 1980s and 1990s.

A Vatican spokesman said the church was aware of the case against Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019, and imposed disciplinary measures in 2020, including restrictions on Belo’s travel and a ban on voluntary contact with minors.

In an open letter, the Oceania Network of Survivors of Abuse by Priests said “there has been no reparation for victims” and called on Pope Francis to use Church money to compensate them.

The Pope is not officially scheduled to meet with the victims, but it is unclear whether he will apologize for the scandal or even whether Bishop Belo will appear with him in Dili.

The authorities have also destroyed homes and evicted dozens of people of people in the area where the mass will be held, a move that has drawn strong criticism from local people.

“They even destroyed our belongings inside the house. Now we have to rent a house nearby because my children still go to school in this area,” Zerita Correia previously told BBC News.

These homes are located in Tasitolu, a wetland area just outside the capital. Hundreds of people have moved there from rural areas of the country over the past decade.

Many people come to the capital to find work and build basic housing in the area. The government says they are occupying land and have no right to live on it.

Speaking to the BBC, a minister said residents had been informed of plans to clear the area by September 2023.

Critics in Timor-Leste have also questioned the decision to spend such a large amount of money on the visit – including $1m (£762,000) on a brand new altar.

According to the United Nations, nearly half of Timor Leste’s population currently lives below the national poverty line.

This is the first papal visit to Timor-Leste since Pope John Paul II’s visit in 1989, when the country was still under Indonesian occupation.

When Indonesia invaded the former Portuguese colony in 1975, only about 20% of East Timorese were Catholic. That number is now 97%.

The Pope previously visited Papua New Guinea, where about a quarter of the population identifies as Catholic, and Indonesia, where that figure is 3%.

Pope Francis will conclude his regional tour in Singapore this weekend.

Additional reporting by Amito Araújo in Dili