President Jokowi previously invited the 87-year-old bishop to the country with the world’s largest Muslim population as part of an effort to promote religious tolerance.
he Vatican delegation has reportedly arrived in Indonesia to arrange Pope Francis’s first-ever visit to Indonesia next September.
"The Vatican delegation and the committee are currently working with related parties to prepare for the Pope's visit," said Thomas Ulun Ismoyo, the spokesperson for Pope Francis’ visiting committee, as quoted by Tribunnews.
Meanwhile, Indonesian Catholic Bishops' Conference (KWI) secretary general Paskalis Bruno Syukur said the three-day visit from Sept. 3-6 would revolve around the theme of “Faith, Paternity and Compassion”.
“[Pope Francis] prioritizes good relations among humans regardless of ethnicity or religion,” Paskalis stated.
Read also: Indonesian Catholics welcome pope’s visit plan with glee
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo previously invited the 87-year-old bishop to the world’s largest Muslim population as part of an effort to promote religious tolerance.
Indonesia itself is home to roughly 242 million Muslims and 29 million Christians; 8.5 million of whom are Catholics, based on a 2022 report by the Religious Affairs Ministry.
Pope Francis will be the third pope to visit Indonesia, after Pope Paul VI in 1970 and Pope John Paul II in 1989. Both were greeted by former president Soeharto.
Before coming to Indonesia, Pope Francis is expected to visit Papua New Guinea and Timor Leste in August.
Since his election by cardinals in 2013, Pope Francis has made 44 trips abroad.
The Asia and Oceania trip has been on the papal agenda for some time, but there have been doubts about whether the 87-year-old pontiff would embark on it given his increasing frailty and a record of skipping engagements because of health problems.
His last international journey was a two-day stay in Marseille, France, in September last year. In November of the same year, he pulled out of a trip to the COP28 climate conference in Dubai because of a lung inflammation.
In recent months, the pope has been suffering on and off from what the Vatican has described as a cold, bronchitis and influenza, and he needs a wheelchair or a cane to move around because of a knee ailment.
Catholics in Indonesia welcomed the Pope’s upcoming visit with glee. They prayed for his health during the last Easter Sunday mass so the plan could be carried out as prepared.
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