Pope Francis' final day in Singapore

Posing for final pictures at the airport

Pope Francis met several groups of people on his final day Singapore. His schedule began with a private meeting with the Bishops, priests, and consecrated religious of the Bishops' Conference of Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei at the St Francis Xavier Retreat Centre.

The Holy Father then visited with several elderly people at St Theresa's Home, a Catholic care home run by the Little Sisters of the Poor.

After a warm welcome and greeting those before him, the Holy Father reassured them of his prayers, and asked them likewise to pray for him. He said: "I ask you to pray for the Church and for humanity. Your prayers are very important to God.."

In the chapel, Pope Francis blessed around 60 wheelchair-bound seniors from the three nursing homes run by CWS: Saint Theresa's, Saint Joseph's Home, and Villa Francis Home.

The Pope's last engagement in Singapore was an interreligious encounter at the Catholic Junior College, gathering young people from a host of religions and faith traditions.

In a spontaneous exchange with the young people, the Holy Father invited them to leave their comfort zones, and have the courage to move forward and offer constructive criticism.

"If you dialogue as young people," the Holy Father said, "then you will be able to do so as citizens and as members of a community."

Throughout history, the Holy Father pointed out, "the first thing a dictatorship does is take away dialogue."

In his remarks, the Pope told them to take risks and to engage the world. "Do not be afraid," he said, noting that fear is a dictatorial attitude that "can paralyze you."

He acknowledged that young people, like everyone else, will inevitably make mistakes. "It is normal to make mistakes," but what matters more, he suggested, is recognizing it, and starting over.

Turning to technology, and other forms of social media, which came up during the testimonies, the Holy Father called these tools useful, but warned against becoming enslaved by them.

In 12 days, the Pope's 45th Apostolic Journey abroad took him to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, and Singapore.

After a farewell ceremony, this evening Pope Francis boarded the papal plane in Singapore, which took off at 12.25pm local time and was due to land in Rome at around 6.25pm Rome time.

LINKS

Visit to St Theresa's Home: www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfM5sRFu4I8

Farewell Ceremony: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VJDW0NGZYg