JAKARTA: Pope Francis arrived in Muslim-majority Indonesia on Tuesday (Sep 3) to kick off a four-nation tour of the Asia-Pacific that will be the longest and farthest of the 87-year-old’s papacy.
The head of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics touched down in Jakarta for a three-day visit devoted to inter-religious ties, and will then travel to Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste and Singapore.
The 12-day tour will test the pontiff’s increasingly fragile health, but he is often energised by being among his flock and in recent weeks has appeared in good spirits.
The pope was due to have a relaxing day in Jakarta on Tuesday following the long flight from Rome, then meet President Joko Widodo on Wednesday in the first major set piece of his visit to the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country.
Catholics currently represent fewer than 3 per cent of the population of Indonesia – about eight million people, compared with the 87 per cent, or 242 million, who are Muslim.
But they are one of six officially recognised religions or denominations in the secular nation, including Protestantism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Confucianism.
On Thursday, Pope Francis will meet representatives of all six at Istiqlal Mosque, the largest in Southeast Asia and a symbol of religious co-existence.
It is linked via a “tunnel of friendship” to the cathedral across the road, where Christians in recent days have been taking selfies with a life-sized cutout of the pope.
He will then host a mass and deliver a sermon at Indonesia’s 80,000-seater national football stadium.
JOINT DECLARATION
Despite Indonesia’s official recognition of different faiths, there are concerns about growing discrimination, including against Christians, with local Catholics hoping the pope will speak out.
But Michel Chambon, a theologian and anthropologist at the National University of Singapore, said the pope would press a wider message he had already delivered in other Muslim-majority countries, from Iraq to Bahrain, Turkey and Morocco.
The visit “is not really aimed at Catholics in Indonesia” but is intended to highlight the global importance of Islamic-Christian dialogue, he told AFP.
That message was already being felt by some in Jakarta.
“When there’s an event like this, we enjoy it because when it’s our religious events, they (Catholics) also show tolerance to us,” said Ranggi Prathita, a 34-year-old Muslim who has been selling customised Pope t-shirts.
“We all respect each other.”
