Pope Francis on Wednesday called for religious unity to combat extremism and intolerance as the 87-year-old’s longest tour began in Muslim-majority Indonesia.
On the first full day of his four-nation journey to Asia-Pacific, the Pope focused on the role that all faiths may play in resolving hotly contested security concerns.
“The Church aims to enhance interreligious dialogue to promote peace and harmony.”
“(Extremists) attempt to impose their views through the distortion of religion by using deception and violence,” the pope said in a speech after meeting President Joko Widodo.
The pope also stated that self-interest was hindering the religious unity he had advocated for and was fueling wars around the world, without naming any specific ones.
“In various regions, we see the emergence of violent conflicts, which are often the results… of the intolerant desire to let one’s interests, one’s position or one’s historical narrative prevail at all costs,” he told me.
Widodo repeated the pope’s comments.
“Freedom and tolerance is what Indonesia, together with the Vatican want, to spread… amid an increasingly turbulent world,” according to him.
Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, has long contended with Islamist extremism.
The 2002 bombings on the tourist island of Bali killed 202 people, making them the bloodiest in Indonesian history and prompting a crackdown on militancy.
Catholics account up less than 3% of Indonesia’s population – approximately eight million individuals — compared to 87 percent, or 242 million Muslims.
However, they are one of six officially recognized religions or denominations in the purportedly secular republic, with Protestantism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Confucianism.
The pope’s visit to Indonesia is the third in history, and the first since John Paul II in 1989.
– Fragile health-
The pope’s delicate health will be challenged during the tour, which also includes stops in Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Singapore.
He hadn’t traveled abroad since visiting Marseille, France, in September of last year.
His doctor and two nurses are accompanying him to Indonesia, but Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni explained that this was routine protocol.
The pontiff appeared invigorated when he landed in Jakarta from Rome on Tuesday, and again when he met Widodo on Wednesday morning for the first big event of his tour.
He arrived in a civilian Toyota sedan, sitting in the front passenger seat before exiting on a wheelchair to welcome the crowd.
Hundreds of children in traditional costumes screamed “Welcome Pope” and waved flags.
Widodo welcomed him, as did Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto, the country’s president-elect, who will take office next month.
The pontiff used a cane to get out of his wheelchair and speak with the Indonesian leader.
As he drove away from the palace, dozens of people rushed to follow him.
The pope was subsequently slated to meet privately with members of the Society of Jesus, a Jesuit order to which he belongs, at the Holy See’s Jakarta mission.
– Meeting with the devout.-
Interfaith links are important to his Indonesia leg.
He is scheduled to host a meeting Thursday with representatives from all six religions in the Istiqlal Mosque, Southeast Asia’s largest and a symbol of religious coexistence.
According to the Indonesian bishops’ conference, he will sign a joint declaration with the mosque’s grand imam on “dehumanisation” caused by the rise of conflict and environmental devastation.
The pope will hold a mass on Thursday at the country’s 80,000-seat national football stadium, which is likely to be packed with Catholics.
In a show of solidarity, the religious affairs ministry has asked TV stations to stop airing daily Muslim dusk prayer recordings during mass and instead utilize text reminders.
Before that, the pope will address the local Catholic faithful on Wednesday afternoon at Jakarta’s cathedral, which is located across the street from the mosque.
The church, which is connected to the mosque by a “tunnel of friendship,” was restored after a fire at the end of the nineteenth century, and Christians have recently taken pictures with a life-sized pope cutout there.
The pope will conclude his day by meeting with young people who are members of a global network of schools focused at assisting impoverished youngsters that he founded in 2013.
