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

Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni cited crowd estimates by local organizers of the number of people in the Tasitolu park and surrounding areas, the same site as St. John Paul II’s historic Mass in 1989.

While some faithful from Indonesia's West Timor traveled for the Mass, the number would approximate around half of East Timor’s population of 1.3 million, making it the largest crowd ever to attend a papal event, in terms of the proportion of the population.

Francis is visiting East Timor as part of his trip through Asia.

The Tasitolu park was a sea of yellow and white umbrellas – the colors of the Holy See flag – as Timorese shielded themselves from the afternoon sun awaiting Francis' arrival. They got occasional spritzes of relief from water trucks that plied the field with water hoses.

"Viva Papa Francisco," an announcer intoned as Francis arrived to cheers.

Tasitolu is said to have been a site where Indonesian troops disposed of bodies killed during their 24-year rule of East Timor. Now it is known as the "Park of Peace" and features a larger-than-life-sized statue of John Paul to commemorate his 1989 visit, when the Polish pope shamed Indonesia for its human rights abuses and encouraged the overwhelmingly Catholic Timorese faithful.

John Paul’s visit helped draw attention to the plight of the Timorese people and the oppressiveness of Indonesia’s rule, during which as many as 200,000 people were killed over a quarter-century.

Francis was celebrating Mass at the same site Tuesday, following in John Paul's footsteps to cheer on the nation two decades after it became independent in 2002. East Timor, known also as Timor-Leste, remains one of the poorest countries, with some 42% of its 1.3 million people living below the poverty line, according to the U.N. Development Program.

But the Timorese are deeply faithful – the territory has been overwhelmingly Catholic ever since Portuguese explorers first arrived in the early 1500s and some 97% of the population today is Catholic. They have turned out in droves to welcome the first pope to visit them as an independent nation.

"We are very happy that the pope came to Timor because it gives a blessing to our land and our people," said Dirce Maria Teresa Freitas, 44, who arrived at the field at 9 a.m. from Baucau, more than seven hours early.

Government authorities said some 300,000 people had registered through their dioceses to attend the Mass, but President Jose Ramos-Horta said he expected 700,000 and the Vatican predicted as many as 750,000. While people from West Timor and elsewhere were also expected, the predicted numbers would approximate half East Timor's population of 1.3 million.

They lined up before dawn to enter the Tasitolu park, on the coast about 8 kilometers (nearly 5 miles) from downtown Dili. With hours to go until the service, the roads leading to it were jammed by cars, trucks and buses packed with people; others walked down the middle of the street, ignoring the sidewalks. Temperatures were 31 degrees Celsius (88 degrees Fahrenheit) and felt even hotter with humidity over 50%.

"For us, the pope is a reflection of the Lord Jesus, as a shepherd who wants to see his sheep, so we come to him with all our hearts as our worship," said Alfonso de Jesus, who also came from Baucau, the country’s second-largest city after Dili, about 128 kilometers east of the capital.

De Jesus, 56, was among the estimated 100,000 people who attended John Paul’s 1989 Mass, which made headlines around the world because of a riot that broke out just as it was ending. John Paul looked on as baton-wielding Indonesian plain-clothed police clashed with some 20 young men who shouted "Viva a independência" and "Viva el Papa!"

According to Associated Press reporting at the time, the men unfurled a banner in front of the altar and hurled chairs at police. One banner read "Fretilin Welcomes You," a reference to the independence movement that fought Indonesian rule since East Timor was annexed in 1976 after Portugal dismantled its centuries-old colonial empire.

Four women were reported hospitalized with injuries suffered after being crushed in the surging crowd. The pope wasn't harmed.