between Gorbachev and John Paul in Italy at the end of November.

But there has been no similar thaw in China's attitude towards the Papacy. Beijing has forbidden John Paul's route to include Chinese airspace. The Pope will again travel to areas of controversy during his 10-day trip to South Korea, Indonesia, East Timor and the Indian Ocean of Mauritius. In South Korea he will deliver a special peace message to the 44th International Eucharistic Congress, the theme of which is "Christ Our Peace". Organisers of the visit said they hoped Catholics from communist-ruled North Korea would be allowed to attend.
Politically troubled East Timor, scene of guerrilla fighting, will cause the Pope his biggest headache of the trip. East Timorese groups have asked him to kiss the ground upon arrival, a usual papal gesture upon visiting a country for the first rime, as a sign that he does not regard it as part of Indonesia.
East Timor was annexed by Indonesia in 1975, and Amnesty International has estimated that many thousands of its people have been killed in the ensuing violence.
n rule is to Indonesiaule
is still high. Amongst the opposition leaders is Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo of Dili, top church authority in East Timor, who called for selfdetermination earlier this year. A priest working in East Timor said this week that there was
strong antifeeling amongst the clergy. The Church and priests had lost many of their privileges since the annexation, he said.
East Timor has 535,000 Catholics in a total population of 680,000. There will be fewer tensions in Mauritius, which the Pope is visiting for the first time. The island has become a tourist sunseeker's paradise in recent years.