JAKARTA (CNS/UCAN): Pope Francis landed in Jakarta on September 3 after a 13-hour flight from Rome and was greeted by two children dressed in traditional Papua costumes and by Church and government officials including nuncio, Archbishop Piere Pioppo; Archbishop Ignatius Suharyo Cardinal Hardiatmodjo of Jakarta; Bishop Antonius Subianto Bunjamin of Bandung, president of the Indonesian Bishops’ Conference; Indonesian ambassador to the Vatican, Michael Trias Kuncahyono; Indonesia’s minister for Religious Affairs, Yaqut Cholil Quomas and chairperson of the Papal Visit Committee, Ignasius Jonan.
The pope was scheduled to take the remainder of the day to rest and try to get used to the five-hour time difference between Rome and Jakarta CNS reported.
However, before resting, Pope Francis visited with migrants and refugees assisted by Jesuit Refugee Service, orphans cared for by Dominican sisters and elderly and sick people assisted by the Community of Sant’Egidio. The visit took place at the apostolic nunciature where the pope is staying while in Indonesia.
At the beginning of the flight on September 2, the 87-year-old pope thanked reporters for accompanying him on the longest trip of his pontificate, which will encompass Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and Singapore before returning to Rome on September 13.
Interreligious dialogue, care for creation and the fair treatment of immigrants are expected to be issues the pope touches on in each of the four countries.
He is also likely to call on local Catholics to pick up the missionary mantle, building on the work of the missionaries who first shared the faith and, in many cases, built networks of schools and hospitals.
On September 5, the pope is scheduled to visit the Jakarta Istiqlal Mosque for an interfaith meeting and later meet with beneficiaries of charitable organisations at the Bishops’ Conference Office. He will later lead a large scale Mass at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium.
“Bless us, the people of Indonesia. Hopefully, the pope’s arrival will build the spirit of the Indonesian Church to support others, especially the poor and suffering and those who are clearly marginalised,” Azas Tigor Nainggolan, UCAN reported a parishioner from St. Yoseph Parish in Jakarta.
Catholics make up only about three per cent of the 280 million-strong population that is overwhelmingly Muslim, Indonesia is proud of its diversity and peaceful cohabitation as its founding Pancasila [five precepts] principles decree, Vatican News noted.
Pope Francis is the third pope to visit Indonesia after Pope Paul VI in December 1970 and Pope John Paul II in October 1989.
