Pope Francis arrives in Singapore on last leg of his Asia tour

Singapore: Pope Francis, head of the Roman Catholic Church, arrived in Singapore on Wednesday on the last leg of his Asia tour.

The chartered plane carrying the 87-year-old leader left Dili airport in Timor-Leste at about 11:20 am (Singapore time) and landed here at 2:50 pm, reported The Straits Times.

Pope Francis’ tour of Asia, which started on September 2, also took him to Papua New Guinea and Indonesia and is his longest trip yet.

His arrival in Singapore marks the first visit by a pontiff here since 1986 when the late Pope John Paul II made a five-hour stopover.

At 2:30 pm, about 1,000 catholics were waiting along Jurassic Mile to greet the Pope when he arrived. Many were dressed in the yellow and white of the Vatican flag and carried mini Singapore flags.

More than 30 welcome banners also lined the Changi Airport Connector that led from the airport’s VIP complex to Jurassic Mile.

Pope Francis was welcomed by Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong and his wife along with Singapore’s non-resident ambassador to the Vatican Janet Ang and her husband.

After the procession along Jurassic Mile, the Pope will meet members of the Society of Jesus or Jesuits – a Roman Catholic order – at the St Francis Xavier Retreat Centre in Punggol.

On Thursday, he will call on President Tharman Shanmugaratnam at Parliament House and meet Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.

The pontiff will then give a speech at the National University of Singapore’s University Cultural Centre, before celebrating mass at the National Stadium for some 50,000 Roman Catholics.

His itinerary on September 13 includes an inter-religious dialogue with young people, before flying back to Rome.