Pope Francis was met by cheering and excited crowds in Jakarta, Indonesia, on September 4, 2024, the third day of his 12-day trip to Asia and Oceania, but the first filled with official appointments and public speeches. His first day in the country was focused on rest after the more than 13-hour flight, the "longest flight I've ever been on," the Pope commented.
Getting under way with his official meetings, he praised the country’s promotion of unity and tolerance in a meeting with political representatives, and he firmly encouraged the local Catholic community in their evangelizing mission. He also had various informal meetings with various groups of people, including some Rohingya refugees. As is often the case on his trips, he also met with his brother Jesuits.
Pope Francis left Rome on Monday afternoon, September 2, and arrived in Jakarta, Indonesia the following morning. Although no other appointments were scheduled for the day, in order to allow the Pope to rest after the 13-hour flight and get used to the 5-hour time difference, he did meet informally with various groups of people at the apostolic nunciature where he will be staying.
He met with refugees, including Rohingyas from Myanmar, a group of elderly, some homeless people, and orphaned children that are taken care of by a community of Dominican nuns. The Pope often makes public appeals regarding the plight of the Rohingya.
His official appointments then started the following day, Wednesday, September 4, with a series of meetings with political and institutional representatives at the Istana Merdeka Presidential Palace (meaning the Palace of Liberty in Indonesian). After a courtesy visit to the President of the Republic, Joko Widodo, the Pope addressed his first speech of the trip to the political representatives, civil society and diplomatic corps.
Creating a harmonious and diverse society
The Pontiff praised the state’s promotion of religious diversity, unity, and social justice in the majority-Muslim country, for example in their Constitution and national motto. However, he also encouraged them to keep countering intolerance, which Indonesia has seen in the past from certain extremist groups that have attacked people of different faiths.
“This wise and delicate balance, between the multiplicity of cultures and different ideological visions, and the ideals that cement unity, must be continuously defended,” the Pope said, highlighting how political actors have a special responsibility in this matter.
He said this is especially the case in today’s world, where there are certain tendencies that go against human fraternity such as “the intolerant desire to let one’s own interests, one’s own position, or one’s own partial historical narrative prevail at all costs.”
He also criticized laws today that promote death and praised how Indonesia has “families with three, four, five children.”
He then added that the Church wants to increase interreligious dialogue and keep collaborating with civil society and institutions.
“In this way, prejudices can be eliminated and a climate of mutual respect and trust can grow. This is indispensable for meeting common challenges, including that of countering extremism and intolerance, which through the distortion of religion attempt to impose their views by using deception and violence,” he explained.
Be “prophets of communion”
In the afternoon he then met with the bishops, priests, seminarians, catechists and other Church members in Jakarta’s Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption. The Pope was welcomed by crowds of excited faithful of all ages, some of whom had come from across Indonesia to meet him.
In this second speech of his trip he encouraged the Catholic minority of around 8 million people, 3% of the total population, to keep bearing witness to their faith in a world marked by tensions.
“Proclaiming the Gospel does not mean imposing our faith or placing it in opposition to that of others, but giving and sharing the joy of encountering Christ,” the Pope said in his speech.
He encouraged the Church members by focusing on the trip’s motto, “faith, fraternity, and compassion,” which he felt expressed well "both [their] journey as a Church and [their] character as a people, who are ethnically and culturally diverse” while also “characterized by an innate striving for unity and peaceful coexistence.” He especially highlighted the important work of catechists, “the force of the Church,” and female religious.
“I invite you always to keep yourselves open and friendly to all, [...] prophets of communion, in a world where the tendency to divide, impose and provoke each other seems to be constantly increasing,” the Pope said.
He also repeated multiple times that the source of all divisions is the devil, who especially enters one’s life through “the pockets,” which is his way of speaking about attachment to material possessions and "riches" -- money in our pockets.
Meeting young people and the Jesuits
On this busy day, Pope Francis also had a private meeting with the members of the Society of Jesus in Indonesia, as he usually does when he goes abroad. In the past the contents of these meetings have been usually published a couple of weeks later in the Italian Jesuit magazine, La Civiltà Cattolica.
For his last appointment of the day he also met with 200 young people belonging to Scholas Occurrentes, an educational movement launched by Pope Francis himself focused on sport, art, and more.
The Pontiff spent some time answering their questions, with some young people moved to tears by his compliments and presence, as they welcomed him with songs and instruments. He also completed an artwork the children had started, symbolically planted a tree, and gave the young people an icon of “Our Lady of Korsun,” also known as our lady of “tenderness.”
After all these meetings, Pope Francis finally got in his car to return to the apostolic nunciature for the evening. As the car drove slowly down the crowded streets, filled with people trying to wave at him, he stopped a couple of times to greet some children and families through the open window of the passenger seat.
