Pope Francis arrived in Muslim-majority Indonesia on Tuesday, kicking off a 12-day marathon visit focused on interfaith dialogue.
Francis landed in Jakarta after a 13-hour flight from Rome and disembarked in his wheelchair. He received a warm welcome by officials, including the religious affairs minister, a traditional bouquet from two children, and a guard of honour.
The leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics will spend three nights in Jakarta. He will formally begin his tour on Wednesday with a full day of activities planned in the capital.
Indonesia is the first stop on the longest and farthest tour to date of Pope Francis, a remarkable feat given that the 87-year-old suffers from a multitude of health conditions that have made him use a wheelchair and have a doctor and two nurses fly with him.
He is also visiting Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore, flying a total of 32,814km across time zones and testing his increasingly fragile health.
President Joko Widodo welcomed Pope Francis saying Indonesia and the Vatican “have the same commitment to fostering peace and brotherhood, as well as ensuring the welfare of humanity”.
After landing in Jakarta, Francis noted that it was his longest flight ever. “I thank you for coming on this journey, thank you for the company. I think it is the longest one I have done,” he said.
Although the Catholics make up only three per cent of Indonesia’s population, they form the third-largest Christian community in Asia, after the Philippines, and China.
The pope’s visit, observers said, was part of his effort to focus attention on the importance of Muslim-Christian dialogue amid geopolitical tensions around the world.
Indonesia is the world’s largest Muslim country by population.
Nearly 60,000 Catholics are expected to attend a Mass led by the pope on Thursday at a stadium in Jakarta.
City authorities have urged residents to work from home that day given roadblocks and crowds.
Showcasing religious coexistence, the pontiff will meet representatives of all six officially recognised faiths at Istiqlal mosque, the largest in southeast Asia. It is connected by a “friendship tunnel” to the cathedral across the street, where Christians have lately been taking selfies with a lifesize cutout of the pope.
He will also sign a joint declaration with Muslim religious leader Nasaruddin Umar, the grand imam at the mosque.
Indonesia has hailed the pope’s visit as a symbol of the country’s religious diversity. The government has put tight security arrangements in place and deployed nearly 4,000 law enforcement personnel for the visit.
Francis is the third pope to visit Indonesia after Pope Paul VI in 1970 and St John Paul II in 1989.
The papal attention underlines Indonesia’s significance to the Vatican, both for fostering interfaith dialogue and for its role in Catholic vocations. Indonesia hosts the world’s largest seminary and produces hundreds of priests and religious workers annually.
Francis’s Asia trip was originally planned for 2020 but postponed after the Covid pandemic hit.
He will depart for Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea after his final day of engagement in Indonesia on Friday.