Pope Francis, 87, flies to Indonesia on Monday, where he will begin a long and demanding 12-day tour which also includes Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore.
Jorge Bergoglio will leave Rome on Monday afternoon and is expected to land in Jakarta Tuesday morning, around 11:30 a.m. (04:30 GMT). His tour, which will last 12 days and take him to travel 32,000 km, is the longest and most distant since his election. in 2013 and represents a physical challenge for the Argentine Jesuit, who has had recurring health problems in recent years.
Interfaith meeting
Francis will be the third pope, after Paul VI in 1970 and John Paul II in 1989, to visit Indonesia.an archipelago of 17,500 islands where there are about eight million Catholicsless than 3% of the population, facing the largest number of Muslims on the planet (242 million Muslims, 87%).
In Jakarta, a polluted megalopolis threatened by floods, the Pope could launch a new cry of alarm against global warming. But the visit will mainly focus on the dialogue between islam and christianitywith a interfaith meeting scheduled for Thursday at the Istiqlal mosque, the largest in Southeast Asia, in the presence of Representatives of Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Confucianism.
The Pope will sign a document in the mosque joint declaration with the Grand Imam of Indonesia, Nasaruddin Umar. The document addresses the “dehumanization” linked to conflicts and violence against children and women, as well as environmental protection.said the president of the Indonesian Bishops’ Conference, Antonius Subianto Bunjamin.
Welcome Pope Francis
The Istiqlal Mosque in central Jakarta is next to the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption and in 2020 the authorities had a mosque built “Tunnel of Friendship” to connect the two buildings as symbol of religious brotherhoodOn Monday, a police unit was deployed in the city center. huge sign with the message “Welcome Pope Francis”while the government issued a special stamp in his honor.
Pope Francis 1.jpg
Courtesy of ACI Press
The city has taken important security measures with the deployment of more than 4,000 police officers. In JakartaFrancis will meet with outgoing President Joko Widodo, who will leave office on October 20, He will preside over a mass in a stadium with a capacity of 80,000 people and will give several speechesincluding one before the authorities and the diplomatic corps.
This visit is “very important for the advancement of interfaith relations” at home and abroad, Indonesia’s independent newspaper Jakarta Post said on Monday. According to Michel Chambon, a theologian and anthropologist at the National University of Singapore, the visit “is not really focused on Indonesian Catholics” but is intended the aim of highlighting the dialogue between Islam and Christianity. Discrimination against religious minorities is on the rise in Indonesiaespecially against the Christians in some regions.
A great physical challenge for the Argentine Jesuit
Francis has visited Muslim-majority countries several timessuch as Iraq, Bahrain, Turkey or Morocco, and in 2019 he signed a document on human fraternity in Abu Dhabi with the Grand Imam of Al Azhar University. This is the The Argentine Pope’s 45th trip abroadIt was initially scheduled for 2020 but was postponed due to the pandemic.
Pope Francis .jpg
The leader of the 1.3 billion Catholics, who will turn 88 in December, underwent a major reshuffle in 2023 abdominal surgery and has suffered several respiratory infections. He can only move around in a wheelchair or with the help of a cane. Despite the physical effort that this tour will entail, with 16 speeches planned, seven flights and up to eight hours of time differencethe Vatican said that he will be accompanied by the same medical team as until now, consisting of a doctor and two nurses.
Source: Ambito
