Pope’s voyage between third and first worlds is a microcosm of his papacy and 11-year message

SINGAPORE – Pope Francis travelled from one of the world’s poorest nations to one of its richest on 11 September, leaving behind the dusty but vibrant and enthusiastic crowds of East Timor, and arriving in the ultra-modern and affluent city-state of Singapore.

Francis’s trip to Asia and Oceania – the longest and farthest, and by far the most arduous, of his 11-year papacy – has in many ways been a contrast in global realities, an example of the sharp disparity between the developed and developing nations.