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

The estimated crowd of 600,000 people Pope Francis' Mass in East Timor is nearly half of the small Southeast Asian country's population.

Pope Francis arrived on Monday in East Timor, a predominantly Catholic nation in Southeast Asia, for a three-day visit that will include an open-air celebration of Mass the Vatican says could draw more than half the population of 1.

I wish for you peace, that you keep having many children, and that your smile continues to be your children,” the Pope told the Timorese.

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

An estimated 600,000 people in East Timor, just under half its population, turned out in the baking heat on Tuesday for a Mass with Pope Francis at a coastal park synonymous with the country's long struggle for independence from Indonesia.

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,

When Pope Francis touches down in the East Timorese capital of Dili this week he will be landing in a totally different nation to the one visited by his predecessor.

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,