Twelve days, 32,000 kilometres. Pope Francis, 87, flew to Indonesia on Monday, September 2, on the first leg of his longest and most far-flung trip since his election in 2013. He is expected to arrive in Jakarta on Tuesday at around 6:30 a.m. Paris time and will stay three days in the country before travelling on to Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore.
This Asian tour represents an extraordinary physical challenge for the Argentine Jesuit, who has experienced health problems in recent years but who often seems revitalized by travel and contact with the faithful.
After Paul VI in 1970 and John Paul II in 1989, he is the third Pope to visit Indonesia, this archipelago of 17,500 islands where there are some eight million Catholics – less than 3% of the population – compared to the highest number of Muslims on the planet (242 million, 87%).
“Tunnel of Friendship”
In Jakarta, a polluted metropolis threatened by flooding, the Pope, who has made environmental protection a leitmotif of his pontificate, could launch a new cry of alarm against global warming.
But the main focus of this visit will be on Muslim-Christian dialogue, with an interfaith meeting on Thursday at the largest mosque in Southeast Asia, in the presence of representatives of the six official faiths (Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Confucianism).
The Pope will sign a joint declaration there with Grand Imam Nasaruddin Umar, which will have two main themes: “dehumanization” linked to conflicts and violence against children and women, and to the protection of the environment, said the president of the Indonesian Bishops’ Conference, Antonius Subianto Bunjamin.
The Istiqlal mosque is next to the Sainte-Marie de l’Assomption cathedral and the authorities had a “friendship tunnel” built in 2020 to connect the two buildings, a symbol of religious brotherhood.
a message wishing “Welcome to Pope Francis” was visible on Monday on a huge billboard in central Jakarta, as the government published a special stamp in his honour. In the Indonesian capital, Francis will meet with outgoing President Joko Widodo, preside over a mass in a stadium with a capacity of 80,000 people and deliver several speeches, including one to authorities and the diplomatic corps.
Growing discrimination against religious minorities
This visit is “very important for the advancement of interreligious relations” at home and abroad, praised the independent Indonesian newspaper on Monday Jakarta Post in a publishing house.
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Observers are reporting growing discrimination against religious minorities, particularly Christians in some regions, and calls are being made on the government to take action. In August, the Union of Journalists for Diversity (Sejuk) recorded eight cases of violations of religious freedom, including acts of violence against places of worship, denial of building permits and attacks, its director Ahmad Junaidi told Agence France-Presse.
Francis has visited Muslim-majority countries on several occasions and in 2019 signed a document on human fraternity with the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar in Abu Dhabi.
This trip, the 45th by the Argentine Pope abroad, was initially planned for 2020 but was postponed due to the pandemic. Since then, the leader of the 1.3 billion Catholics underwent a major abdominal operation in 2023 and suffered from respiratory infections. He now only moves around in a wheelchair or with the help of a cane.
Despite the physical limitations of such a trip, medical arrangements have not changed: Francis will travel with his doctor and two nurses, the Vatican said.
