What fuels Pope Francis on his historic 12-day Asia-Pacific tour

What powers 87-year-old Pope Francis through his historic 12-day Asia-Pacific tour, which has now entered its final leg?

- Wong Pei Ting

Top contenders include the papaya, a smooth cappuccino, cookies, nasi goreng and the humble egg. But the winners are the people who surround him whether his close Vatican aides or the common folk, they energise him all the same.

On Sept 10, the eve of Pope Francis' visit to Singapore, The Straits Times sat down with a Vaticanbased insider on the tour, Father Markus Solo Kewuta, to find out how the pontiff has been managing his most gruelling journey yet, which is also the longest he has taken out of Vatican City.

There have been moments of worry, such as when the head of the Catholic Church, who has struggled with bronchitis, took some moments to clear his throat when making his first speech in Papua New Guinea.

At other times, the Pope, who also deals with knee pain, looked unstable on his feet - for instance, during the formal welcome ceremony in Dili, Timor-Leste, when he had to repeatedly stand and sit.

But the Pope's energy, said Father Markus, returns when he is surrounded by people, including the faithful who line the streets to catch a glimpse of him as he makes his way to scheduled events.

Father Markus, the Pope's interpreter during the Indonesia leg of the tour, was granted a front row seat with the leader and was nearly always by his side, including at the table for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

He described how the Pope chose to wind down the window in his Popemobile in his first stop in Jakarta, Indonesia seemingly blind to security concerns.

"As a person who loves people, it doesn't make sense if you close the window," said Father Markus, a priest from Indonesia and an official at the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue. "Separating himself from the people is not the aim for him when visiting these countries. He wants to be close to the people."