Age, sciatica and knee problems notwithstanding, pontiff appears to have had the time of his life during wide-ranging 11-day tour.

East Timor is in a festive mood as it prepares for the arrival of Pope Francis on his first trip to the deeply Catholic country, hard on the heels of the 25th anniversary of the referendum on independence from Indonesia.

East Timor pulled out all stops for Pope Francis’ historic visit to one of the world’s youngest and poorest countries to the tune of $12 million, drawing rebuke from activists and human rights organiz

The Roman Catholic Church played an important part in East Timor’s independence struggle. But one of its heroes from that time has been accused of sexual abuse.

The Vatican says some 600,000 people have attended Pope Francis’ Mass in East Timor, or nearly half the country’s population.

Pope Francis receives a warm welcome in East Timor, a predominantly Catholic Southeast Asian nation:::: Dili, East TimorThe last papal visit to Dili was in 1989, when Pope John Paul II arrived in territory then occupied by Indonesia,

Pope Francis is the first Pope to visit East Timor since it gained its independence from Indonesia in 2002, becoming the first new sovereign state of the 21st century. Francis follows in the footsteps of John Paul II, who made an apostolic visit to East Timor in 1989 when it was still an Indonesian province.

But Pope Francis, age 87, hobbled by bad knees and bent over with sciatica, appeared to be having the time of his life. With half of East Timor's population gathered at a seaside park, Francis couldn't help but oblige them with a final good night and languid loops in his popemobile,

It was the farthest trip of his pontificate and one of the longest papal trips ever in terms of days on the road and distance traveled. But Pope Francis, age 87, hobbled by bad knees and bent over with sciatica,