JAKARTA – Pope Francis on Wednesday kicked off his three-day visit to Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim nation, with a clear call to fight extremism and to foster interreligious tolerance and social development.
“Just as the ocean is the natural element uniting all Indonesian islands, mutual respect for the specific cultural, ethnic, linguistic and religious characteristics of all the groups present in Indonesia is the indispensable and unifying fabric that makes Indonesians a united and proud people,” the pope said in his Sept. 4 speech to national authorities.
He spoke to civil leaders and the diplomatic corps after holding a private meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo at the Istana Merkeda Presidential Palace, marking the first public engagement of his itinerary.
Despite an overall climate of tolerance, pockets of extremism exist in Indonesia, and there are concerns that fundamentalism is rising in some areas of the country.
In early August, authorities arrested three suspects with ties to an Islamic extremist group known as Daulah Islamiyah on charges that they were plotting to bomb two Catholic churches in East Java. In May, a Muslim mob in a neighborhood just outside of Jakarta assaulted a group of Catholic students who were praying the rosary in a private home.
Though authorities said neither incident was related to the papal visit, they nevertheless illustrate what some Christians in Indonesia describe as a worrying pattern of threats.
Pope Francis is in Jakarta as part of a broader Sept. 2-13 visit to Asia and Oceania. He will stay in the city until Sept. 6, when he flies to Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea.
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Indonesia is the world’s fourth largest country overall, with a population of 275.5 million, who belong to around 1,330 different ethnic groups. Roughly 87 percent of Indonesians are Muslim. Only 10 percent of the population is Christian, with Catholics representing just 3.1 percent of the population.
Pope Francis on Wednesday pointed to the national motto of Indonesia, Bhinneka tunggal ika, meaning “many but one,” saying Indonesia is a “magnificent mosaic” in which each tile is valuable and irreplaceable.
“A harmony in diversity is achieved when particular perspectives take into account the needs common to all and when each ethnic group and religious denomination acts in a spirit of fraternity, pursuing the noble goal of serving the good of all,” he said.
It’s a sense of solidarity and joint cooperation that helps to identify effective solutions to problems while avoiding troubling contrasts and conflict, he said.
“This wise and delicate balance, between the multiplicity of cultures and different ideological visions, and the ideals that cement unity, must be continuously defended against imbalances,” he said.
Francis said that maintaining this balance is the responsibility of everyone, but especially those engaged in political life.
Politicians, he said, “should strive toward harmony, equity, respect for the fundamental rights of human beings, sustainable development, solidarity and the pursuit of peace, both within society and with other peoples and nations.”
To ensure a peaceful and harmonious coexistence and avoid “the imbalances and sufferings that still persist in some areas of the country,” the Catholic Church, he said, wants to increase interreligious dialogue.
By doing so, prejudices can be eliminated and a climate of mutual respect and trust can grow,” he said.
“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 said, saying closeness fosters “brotherhood among nations.”
Pope Francis underlined the Catholic Church’s desire to increase cooperation with public institutions and civil society so as to ensure “a more balanced social fabric and ensure a more efficient and equitable distribution of social assistance.”
He invoked Indonesia’s 1945 Constitution, which twice in its preamble refers to God and the need for his blessing on the country, and he noted that the opening lines of Indonesia’s fundamental constitutional law also twice reference social justice as a foundation for international order and a benefit for the entire population.
“Unity in multiplicity, social justice and divine blessing are thus the fundamental principles intended to inspire and guide the social order,” he said, and invoked the theme of his visit to Indonesia, “Faith, Fraternity, Compassion,” saying these things are necessary in a world where certain tendencies “hinder the development of universal fraternity.”
To this end, without being specific, he pointed to the various global conflicts raging, which he said are often caused by “a lack of mutual respect, of the intolerant desire to let one’s own interests, one’s own position, or one’s own partial historical narrative prevail at all costs, even when this leads to endless suffering for entire communities and results in wars and much bloodshed.”
“Sometimes violent tensions arise within countries because those in power want to make everything uniform, imposing their vision even in matters that should be left to the autonomy of individuals or associated groups,” he said.
Francis also decried what he said is a lack of “true and forward-looking commitment to implement the principles of social justice.”
“As a result, a considerable part of humanity is left on the margins, without the means for a dignified existence and no defense against the serious and growing social imbalances that trigger acute conflicts,” he said, and praised the country’s high birthrate.
“Continue like this, it’s an example to other countries,” he said.
In some places, God is relegated and dismissed, the pope said, while in others, God is exalted but “is sadly manipulated to foment divisions and increase hatred instead of furthering peace, communion, dialogue, respect, cooperation and fraternity.”
“In the face of the above challenges, it is encouraging that the philosophy guiding the organization of the Indonesian State is both balanced and wise,” he said, and quoted from a speech Pope John Paul II gave during his 1989 visit.
“In acknowledging the presence of legitimate diversity, in respecting the human and political rights of all citizens, and in encouraging the growth of national unity based on tolerance and respect for others, you lay the foundations for that just and peaceful society which all Indonesians wish for themselves and long to bequeath to their children,” he said.
Even if these principles have not always been implemented, “they remain valid and reliable” and serve as “a beacon that illuminates the path to be taken and that warns of the most dangerous mistakes to be avoided,” he said.
Pope Francis closed voicing hope urging national authorities to work for peace, which he said is also the work of justice.
“Harmony is achieved when we are committed not only to our own interests and vision, but to the good of all, to building bridges, fostering agreements and synergies, joining forces in order to defeat all forms of moral, economic and social distress, and promoting peace and concord,” he said.
Following his meeting with national authorities, Pope Francis will hold a private meeting with Jesuits serving in Indonesia before meeting with bishops, clergy and members of religious communities serving in the country, and young people involved in the Scholas Occurentes organization.
On Thursday he will hold an interreligious meeting at Jakarta’s Istiqlal Mosque – which sits directly across the street from the Catholic cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, and which is connected to the church by an underground tunnel called the “Tunnel of Friendship” – and sign a joint declaration with other interfaith leaders.
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