'€œThere are various religions in Indonesia, and the followers of each one respect and accept each other wholeheartedly,'€ the minister said as quoted by Antara in Jakarta. He was speaking after his bilateral meeting with Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi at the Pancasila Building at the Foreign Ministry office in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Parolin said Indonesia could be a global role model of harmony between followers of different religions. '€œI admire how such a big country, which has such a large population, can maintain its pluralism in society and government,'€ he said.

Responding to his statements, Retno said Indonesia and the Vatican would continue to cooperate to strengthen tolerance among the world'€™s religious followers by, among others things, carrying out interfaith dialogues.

She said interfaith dialogues between Indonesia and the Vatican would be a good example for all religious followers around the world of how to respond to faith-based differences.

Interfaith dialogues,'€ Retno explained, would be '€œa good example of how differences should not be handled with disrespect but instead, they should be handled with friendship, through which the differences will eventually lead to cooperation.'€

'€œInterfaith dialogue is one of the best channels for deepening the relationship between Indonesia and the Vatican,'€ said Retno. (ebf)(+++)

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