VATICAN (UCAN): “I would like to deliver President Joko Widodo’s invitation to His Holiness to visit Indonesia,” Indonesia’s Religious Affairs minister, Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, said during his audience with the Pope Francis on June 8.
“Indonesia maintains tolerance and peace among people from different religious backgrounds, including followers of traditional beliefs. We would love to see His Holiness in Indonesia to get first-hand experience about this diversity.”
Indonesia has six recognised religions—Buddhism, Catholicism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam and Protestantism—and around 200 traditional beliefs.
Qoumas also presented greetings from the Indonesian bishops to Pope Francis and told him that all Catholics in the country longed for a visit.
“We pray and hope that His Holiness will stay safe and healthy,” he said, adding, “We, too, uphold and respect fraternity which His Holiness believes can create and promote peace in Indonesia.”
Qoumas, who is known for promoting the rights of many minority groups, said he was grateful to be able to see the pope at the Vatican for a second time.
They first met in September 2019, when he expressed support for the Document on Human Fraternity signed by Pope Francis and Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb in Abu Dhabi in 2018.
Archbishop Yohanes Harun Yuwono of Palembang, chairperson of the Indonesian bishops’ Commission for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, welcomed the invitation.
“We are surely happy with the government’s invitation. All Catholics really want to see him,” Archbishop Yuwono said.
However, he suggested that the government should invite not only the pope to visit, but religious leaders from across the globe as well, so that they can see its plural and harmonious society.
“We hope these religious leaders can also promote such harmony to the international community,” the archbishop said.
Pope Francis was supposed to visit Indonesia, Timor-Leste and Papua New Guinea late in 2020 but the trip was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
