She fought.-Pope Francis landed on Tuesday in Jakarta, the capital of the country with the largest number of Muslims in the world, the first destination of his tour of Asia, which will also take him to Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore until September 13, his longest trip to date.
The Ita Airways flight carrying the Pope, the Vatican delegation and 75 journalists landed at Jakarta International Airport shortly before 11:30 a.m. local time on Tuesday (04:30 GMT) after a 13-hour flight, as planned.
The Pope was welcomed at the airport by Indonesian Minister of Religious Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas and will rest for the rest of the day to relax from the flight and get used to the time difference.
The official agenda will begin on Wednesday at the nunciature, where he will be staying these days in Jakarta and will greet some of the immigrants and poor people who are cared for by the Community of Sant’Egidio in the country.
Some 4,300 soldiers and 4,700 police officers, as well as snipers, will ensure the Pope’s safety during various events in the Asian archipelago between September 3 and 6, according to Indonesian authorities.
The top Catholic representative, 87 years old and in fragile health, will also be accompanied by members of the Swiss Guard from the Vatican.
This is the third Pope to visit Indonesia, after Paul VI in 1970 and John Paul II in 1989, and the pontiff is expected to highlight dialogue with Islam and religions in the archipelago, as well as the fight against climate change.
Upon his arrival at the nunciature in Jakarta, the Pontiff greeted a group of refugees welcomed by the Jesuit Refugee Service, orphaned children raised by Dominican nuns and the elderly, and migrants and homeless people accompanied by the Community of Sant’Egidio.
The official agenda will begin tomorrow with a meeting with outgoing President Joko Widodo, and he will deliver his first speech to the authorities and diplomatic corps at the presidential palace in front of some 300 people.
In the afternoon, the Pope will head to the Basilica of Our Lady of the Assumption, a cathedral located in the city centre, opposite the Istiqlal Mosque, where he meets with bishops and clergy, and then he will walk to the Youth House for the meeting with the Scholas Occurrentes.
On Thursday 5 September at 9:00 (2:00 GMT) an interreligious meeting is scheduled to take place at the Istiqlal Mosque, the largest in South-East Asia, connected to the cathedral by the “tunnel of friendship”, which the Pope and the Grand Imam will visit together, before moving on to the great hall for the reading and signing of a joint declaration.
He will then travel to the Indonesian Bishops’ Conference to meet with people who receive aid from various charities. In the afternoon, the Pope will travel to the Jakarta stadium, where at 5 p.m. (10:00 GMT) he will preside over a mass for some 60,000 faithful.
Catholics make up just 3.1 percent of Indonesia’s 270 million people, but that still makes up the third-largest Catholic population in Asia after the Philippines and China, while Muslims make up 89.4 percent.
Indonesia, which generally practices a moderate form of Islam, has seen a rise in the influence of radical groups in the past two decades, although they have been less active in recent years.
Francis, who has mobility problems that force him to use a wheelchair, will continue his Asian tour to Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore until September 13, the longest trip of his papacy.
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2024-09-05 02:28:16
