Pope Francis’ Asia trip marks 60 years of papal visits to the region

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) — Pope Francis’ visit to Southeast Asia, the longest trip in his papacy, is the latest in decades of regular papal visits to the Asia-Pacific region.

Papal travel is a thing of the modern era, starting with Pope Paul VI, who became the first pontiff to leave Italy in more than 150 years when he made his famous pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1964, shortly after becoming pope.

His next visit was to India later that same year, marking the first time a pope had ever visited Asia. It was one of many firsts for Paul VI, who was also the first pope to fly in an airplane, the first to leave Europe and the first to visit countries on six continents, earning him the nickname “the Pilgrim Pope.”

Pope Paul VI drives through the crowd in his white jeep as he arrives at the Oval Grounds in Bombay, India, Dec. 4, 1964. (AP Photo)

Others by Paul VI, according to the Vatican, included a 1970 trip with stops in Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Ceylon — today Sri Lanka — and the Philippines, where a would-be assassin unsuccessfully attempted to stab him at Manila airport.

His successor, Pope John Paul I, never got the chance to travel, dying just over a month after he ascended to the papacy.

But Pope John Paul II, who followed in 1978, picked up where Paul VI left off and by the time of his death in 2005, was the most traveled pope in history; a title he holds to this day.

He made his first of two visits to the Philippines, one of Asia’s most Catholic countries, in 1981 in a trip that also took him to Pakistan, Guam, Japan and Anchorage, Alaska, according to the Vatican.

Shizu Katayama, a 79 year old survivor of the A-bomb that destroyed Nagasaki in 1945, waves a Japanese flag at visiting Pope John Paul II, Thursday, February 26, 1981. (AP Photo/Neal Ulevich, Pool)

Over the years he would visit Asia many times, including trips to South Korea, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, East Timor, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand.

In a notable moment from his 1986 trip to India, he was accompanied by Mother Teresa to her home for the poor in Kolkata, meeting and blessing its residents. Reports at the time said the pope was visibly moved by the visit, and Mother Teresa later called it “the happiest day of my life.”

John Paul II also visited Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific island nations of Fiji, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

His successor, Benedict XVI, became pope at an advanced age and did not travel as frequently or as far afield, but did visit Australia in 2008 for World Youth Day, according to the Vatican.

Francis, who took over from Benedict after he resigned in 2013 due to declining health, has already been to the Asia-Pacific region several times, with visits to countries including South Korea, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Thailand, Japan, Kazakhstan and Mongolia.

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FILE- A typhoon Haiyan survivor wears a message for Pope Francis as he waits for the motorcade of Pope Francis to pass by at the highlight of his pastoral visit in the devastated city of Tacloban, Leyte province in central Philippines Saturday, Jan.17, 2015. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez, File)

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FILE- A man lifts a giant mask of Pope Francis off his head as he waits outside Apostolic Nunciature Embassy of the Holy See in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2019. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup, File)

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FILE- A life-size portrait of Pope Francis is lit at the entrance of the media tent outside the Manila Hotel in Manila, Philippines, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2015. (AP Photo/Wally Santana)

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FILE- A nun holds rosary beside a booklet showing a picture of Pope Francis as they await his arrival at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Manila, Philippines on Friday, Jan. 16, 2015. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

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FILE- The faithful cheer as they wait for the arrival of Pope Francis at Rizal Park in Manila, Philippines, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2015. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)

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FILE- A Sri Lankan Catholic holds a portrait of Pope Francis and awaits his arrival, on the outskirts of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2015. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena, File)

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FILE- A cut-out picture of a standee of Pope Francis is surrounded by Filipino army reservist and volunteers during a briefing as part of security preparations for the visit of Pope Francis at Camp Aguinaldo military headquarters in suburban Quezon city, north of Manila, Philippines on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2015. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File)

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FILE- Workers prepare to install a tarpaulin poster welcoming Pope Francis Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2015 in Manila, Philippines. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez, File)

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FILE- Nuns greet Pope Francis as he arrives for a closing Holy Mass of the 6th Asian Youth Day at Haemi Castle in Haemi, South Korea, Sunday, Aug. 17, 2014. (AP Photo/Kim Hong-Ji, Pool)

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FILE- Tear rolls down the cheek of a Catholic devotee as Pope Francis delivers a prayer at the church of Our Lady of Madhu in Madhu, Sri Lanka,Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2015. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena, File)

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FILE- Worshippers pray during a Mass celebrated by Pope Francis at Rizal Park in Manila, Philippines, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2015. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)

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FILE- Students practice flipping boards with photos to reveal a full-mosaic portrait of Pope Francis before a Holy Mass at National Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)

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FILE- Young boys dressed as the Swiss Guard rest as they wait for the arrival of Pope Francis at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Manila, Philippines, Friday, Jan. 16, 2015. AP Photo/Wally Santana, File)

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FILE- Participants wait for Pope Francis’ Holy Mass at Tokyo Dome Monday, Nov. 25, 2019, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)

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FILE- Faithful react as they see Pope Francis leaving in a car after a meeting with charity workers and the inauguration of the House of Mercy in Ulaanbaatar, Monday, Sept. 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

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FILE- The faithful attend a Mass held by Pope Francis at a baseball stadium Sunday, Nov. 24, 2019, in Nagasaki, Japan. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)

In his 2017 visit to Myanmar, also known as Burma, Francis famously met with Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Ky i, the democratically-elected leader who was ousted in the military in 2021, which has given rise to today’s civil war.

This time his Sept. 2-13 trip takes him to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore.

Of interesting historical note: the last pope to have left Italy before Paul VI was Pius VII, though he did so involuntarily.

Captured by French forces in Rome in 1809, Pius VII had been captive for three years when the French emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte, ordered him moved near Paris in 1812. As Napoleon’s empire crumbled, he was released and returned to Rome in 1814.