Follow up on the information
Pope Francis on Wednesday called on Indonesia to “strengthen inter-religious dialogue” to “address extremism and intolerance,” at the start of a tour of the Asia-Pacific region he began in the Muslim-majority country.
For more news, subscribe to our channel on Telegram
In a speech he gave after his meeting with President Joko Widodo, the Supreme Pontiff said that inter-religious dialogue is “necessary to face common challenges, including addressing extremism and intolerance .”
Pope Francis arrived in Indonesia on Tuesday on the first stop of his tour of four countries in the Asia-Pacific region, the longest and most extensive in the pontiff’s 87-year tenure.
The visit will include Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore.
There are approximately eight million Catholics in Indonesia, which is less than 3% of the country’s population, while 87% of the population and 242 million are Muslims. It is the largest number of Muslims in one country in the world.
The Pope’s visit will focus in particular on Islamic-Christian dialogue, as he will meet on Thursday with representatives of six officially recognized religions in the country at the Istiqlal Mosque, which is the largest in Southeast Asia.
He will lead a mass in a sports stadium that will accommodate around 80,000 people.
“To promote a peaceful and constructive harmony that guarantees peace and unites forces to overcome all forms of inequality… the Catholic Church wants to increase inter-religious relations,” the Pope said on Wednesday.
He continued, “There are always cases where faith in God is put forward, but unfortunately it is manipulated. Peacebuilding does not serve peace, fellowship, dialogue, cooperation and brotherhood, but instead that encourages divisions and increases hatred.”
Pope Francis is the third pontiff to visit the archipelago of 17,500 islands, after Paul VI in 1970 and John Paul II in 1970.
2024-09-04 18:48:33