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 organizations in a nation where almost half the population lives in poverty.
The cost for the two-day visit starting Monday was approved by the government through the Council of Ministers in February, including $1 million to build an altar for a papal Mass.
Walls were still being dabbed with fresh paint and banners and billboards filled the streets of the seaside capital, Dili, to welcome the pontiff, who earlier visited Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
About 42% of East Timor's population of 1.3 million live below the poverty line, according to the U.N. Development Program. Unemployment is high, job opportunities in the formal sector are generally limited and most people are subsistence farmers with no steady income.
The country's budget for 2023 was $3.16 billion. The government had earmarked only $4.7 million to increase food production, said Marino Fereira, a researcher at Timor Leste Institute for Development Monitoring and Analysis. He said the $12 million expense for the papal visit "was exaggerating."
