“BREATH OF FRESH AIR”
Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world – they make up 87 per cent of its total population of about 280 million.
It also has the third-largest Christian population in Asia after the Philippines and China. Only 2.9 per cent of the total population are Catholics.
The pope’s visit will be a “breath of fresh air for all religious communities in Indonesia”, said Ulil Abshar Abdalla, chairman of the executive board of Nahdlatul Ulama – the country’s largest Islamic organisation with more than 80 million members.
“We consider this visit very important. It is symbolic but what it symbolises is important because it will inspire the grassroots to build relationships that continue to be tolerant and respectful,” he added.
“I’m sure this is not just an ordinary visit, but one that has a real impact on lives and relations between religious communities, especially between Muslims and Catholics.”
Thomas Ulun Ismoyo, spokesperson for the Pope Francis Visitation Committee in Jakarta, also noted that the Pope’s visit “shows the importance or significance of Indonesia before the eyes of the Vatican”.
Over at The Church of Our Lady of the Assumption, the oldest cathedral in Jakarta, some Catholics were moved to tears by the anticipation of the Pope’s arrival.
One Jakarta resident said she was emotional and happy, the same way she felt when Pope John Paul II, who was head of the Catholic Church from 1978 till his death in 2005, visited Indonesia in 1989.
This is the first papal visit to Indonesia since then.
