East Timor Turns Out in Force for Mass with Pope Francis

POPE FRANCIS - DILI. An estimated 600,000 people in East Timor, just under half its population, turned out in the baking heat on Tuesday for a Mass with Pope Francis at a coastal park synonymous with the country's long struggle for independence from Indonesia.

Filling a wide, dusty area where Indonesian forces were known to have buried slain Timorese independence fighters, people arrived as early as 1 a.m. and sat on the ground, many braving the sun for hours in temperatures as high as 32 degrees Celsius (90°F).

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