Cardinal Tagle accompanies Pope Francis to Southeast Asia

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle is accompanying Pope Francis on his 12-day tour to four countries in Southeast Asia.

On Facebook, Tagle shared photos of the 87-year-old global Catholic Church leader on board a flight for Jakarta as he started his Apostolic Journey to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, and Singapore.

“Pope Francis has started his Apostolic Journey to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, and Singapore, departing from Rome's Fiumicino Airport,” said Tagle in a social media post.

“He is accompanied by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle and other delegates,” he said.

A Reuters report said the flight carrying the pope and his entourage left Fiumicino airport for an overnight flight of more than 13 hours to the Indonesian capital.

Pope Francis arrived on Tuesday in Indonesia, the first leg of an ambitious four-country Asia-Pacific tour in which he is expected to urge global action on climate change.

The pope will be in Indonesia until Friday. He is scheduled to visit Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Singapore before returning to Rome on September 13. 

Francis, who has stressed the importance of environmental issues throughout his 11-year papacy, is expected to urge global action on climate change during the voyage.

Each of the countries on his tour faces dangers from the warming global climate, including rising sea levels and increasingly severe and unpredictable heat waves and typhoons.

Francis is set to travel nearly 33,000 km (20,500 miles) throughout the visit and will headline more than 40 events. It is the longest trip yet by the pontiff, who now regularly uses a wheelchair due to knee and back pain and has had bouts of ill health.

He was in a wheelchair as he boarded the flight on Monday, using a mobile lift to gain access to the aircraft. — DVM, GMA Integrated News