Janice R. Andrews
Jakarta, Indonesia — Pope Francis is going to start a big four-nation tour of Asia on September 3, 2024, with a much-anticipated stop in Indonesia. The 87-year-old head of the Catholic Church will start his trip in Jakarta. He will be the third Pope to visit the Southeast Asian country, which is an important event.
In the first part of his trip to Indonesia, Pope Francis will meet with President Joko Widodo. After that, he will make a big show at Jakarta’s famous Istiqlal Mosque, where he will have a conversation with leaders of Indonesia’s six major religions: Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Protestantism. Including the Istiqlal Mosque on the Pope’s schedule shows how much he wants to promote faith unity and discussion.
Grand Imam Nasaruddin Umar of Istiqlal Mosque was proud to meet Pope Francis and talked about how important the visit was. He said that the event would be a chance to talk about what different religious groups have in common and to stress the values that all religions share. Imam Umar said, “We hope to use the Pope’s visit to talk about what religious groups have in common and to stress the similarities between religions, races, and beliefs.”
Indonesia has a large Muslim population and religious freedom is protected by its constitution. However, the country’s reputation as an accepting place to live is under more and more threat. In the past few years, religious hatred has grown. For example, Indonesia’s Christian governor was jailed on blasphemy charges, and gay men in Aceh were caned under Sharia law. Reports have also come in of violence against religious minorities and trouble getting permits for places of prayer.
Even with these problems, a lot of Indonesians see the Pope’s coming as a sign of hope. A 23-year-old college student named Cantika Syamsinur recently prayed at Istiqlal Mosque. She was excited about the meeting between people of different faiths and said, “There are many religions in Indonesia, and I hope we respect each other.” Susyana Suwadie, who runs the museum at Jakarta’s church, felt the same way. She was excited about the important visit and said, “Four years of waiting is quite long.”
A Catholic priest in Indonesia named Thomas Ulun Ismoyo spoke for the Pope Francis Visitation Committee and said he was also hopeful about the visit’s effects. He talked about how important religious leaders are in Indonesia and how hopeful he was that the Pope’s visit would lead to good changes at the local level. Ismoyo said, “We hope this visit will lead to something good and work for a better world where everyone is treated fairly and people care about each other.”
About 87% of Indonesia’s 280 million people are Muslims. However, the country also has the third-largest Christian population in Asia, after the Philippines and China. Even though only 2.9% of the people are Catholic, the coming of Pope Francis is likely to have a big impact on people of all faiths.
The meeting was supposed to happen in 2020, but it had to be pushed back because of the COVID-19 pandemic. As Pope Francis gets ready for this important trip, it shows how committed he is to supporting peace and dialogue between different faiths in a world that is changing and becoming more varied.
