The world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, Indonesia, received a strong warning from Pope Francis on Wednesday to take precautions against religious extremism, which he claimed distorted people’s beliefs through “deception and violence.”
During the pontiff’s jam-packed first full day of his longest-ever overseas trip, which spans nine days in Southeast Asia, a region with a small Christian minority, he also met local Catholics and urged them not to convert others to their faith.
Speaking to Indonesia’s political elite, Francis declared that the Catholic Church would step up efforts to promote interfaith understanding in the hopes of countering extremism.
“In Indonesia, where Muslims predominate, Pope Francis issues a warning against religious extremism.”
The 87-year-old pope stated, “In this way, prejudices can be eliminated and a climate of mutual respect and trust can grow,” during a speech at the presidential palace in Jakarta.According to Francis, “this is indispensable for meeting common challenges, including that of countering extremism and intolerance, which attempt to impose their views by using deception and violence through the distortion of religion.”
Approximately 87% of the 280 million people living in Indonesia are Muslims. The nation’s constitution guarantees religious freedom.
Religious extremism has decreased since a wave of high-profile attacks two decades ago, including the 2002 Bali bombing, which claimed the lives of 202 people, including 88 Australians. However, there have been some instances of Islamist violence in Indonesia in recent years, including suicide bombings in 2021 and 2022 connected to a group inspired by the Islamic State.
Ten-year president of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, expressed gratitude to Francis for his appeals for an end to hostilities between Israel and Gaza.
In his welcome address, he stated, “Indonesia appreciates the Vatican’s attitude which continues to voice (and) call for peace.”
The “Manipulated” Religion
As Francis’s car pulled up to the presidential palace, crowds waved small Vatican and Indonesian flags.
One of the children greeting the pope was ten-year-old Dorothea Dawai. Donning a green kebaya, a customary Indonesian garment, she expressed her desire to seek a boon.
The pontiff, who has back and knee pain, was pushed around in a wheelchair as he got out of his car to meet the president outside the structure.Francis spoke about radicalism, intolerance, and the manipulation of religion multiple times in his public remarks, but he did not specifically address any violent incidents.
“There are moments when religious belief is… regrettably used to incite conflict and foster animosity rather than promoting harmony, peace, communication, deference, collaboration, and brotherhood,” the pope stated.
Retno Marsudi, the foreign minister of Indonesia, stated that Francis and Widodo had discussed “the importance of peace” and ongoing conflicts more generally during their meeting than the Gaza War specifically.
Avoid Pressuring Belief
Later, in Jakarta’s cathedral, Francis got to know local Catholics. Hundreds of eager spectators gathered outside to see him, one young child dressed as the pope.
Children were waiting for Francis inside the church, playing the angklung, a traditional bamboo instrument.
Under a teak wood ceiling at the back of the cathedral, the pope heard brief testimonies from four Indonesian Catholics.One came from a nun who made Francis smile when she urged him to urge Vatican officials to expedite the translation of Catholic texts into Indonesian.
The pope interspersed spontaneous jokes and additions throughout his prepared remarks. He told the Catholics that adhering to church teachings “does not mean imposing our faith or placing it in opposition to that of others” and he praised the diversity of Indonesian culture.
The pope will travel through Indonesia on Friday before continuing on to Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Singapore. By the time he returns to Rome on September 13, he will have travelled almost 33,000 kilometres (21,000 miles).
Pope Francis became the first pope to visit the Arabian Peninsula in 2019, highlighting the importance of Catholic-Muslim dialogue. He will attend an interfaith gathering at Jakarta’s Istiqlal Mosque, the biggest mosque in Southeast Asia, on Thursday.
Source: Reuters
