Holy diplomacy: Vatican Ambassador to Indonesia Archbishop Piero Pioppo (right) and Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Arifin Tasrif talk at the Vatican Embassy in Jakarta on Thursday evening after an event commemorating the sixth anniversary of the election of Pope Francis.(JP/Dionnasius Aditya)

Indonesia is looking to expand its cooperation with Vatican City — particularly in promoting humanitarian values — as Indonesia reaffirms its longstanding diplomatic ties with the European city-state, a minister has said.

Speaking on behalf of the Indonesian government, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Arifin Tasrif said Indonesia highly valued its bilateral relations with the Vatican, citing the two nations’ common values of peace, humanity, inclusiveness and freedom.

Indonesia has recognized the support that the Vatican, home to more than 8 million Catholics, has given to Indonesian churches, Arifin said, underlining its role as one of Indonesia’s closest partners in promoting interfaith dialogue and religious pluralism.

Arifin was of the opinion that the future bilateral collaboration should address the rise of radicalism and hatred.

“I sincerely hope that the cooperation between Indonesia and the Holy See can be further expanded, particularly to promote humanity and prosperity,” Arifin said at the reception for the 6th anniversary of the election of Pope Francis at the Embassy of the Holy See in Jakarta.

The newly appointed minister also commended the Vatican for hosting a landmark conference on poverty and agriculture last year in Rome. The conference aimed to assess and promote concrete activities to eradicate poverty and to ensure peace by making use of the agriculture and plantation industry.

The Thursday evening event was attended by many guests, from diplomatic representatives to religious and government institutions.

In his opening remarks, Vatican Ambassador to Indonesia archbishop Piero Pioppo said that the reception was not only a festive occasion but also one to encourage the services carried out by the church and the nation.

He said the relationships between Indonesian and Vatican churches were progressing, especially with the appointment of a new cardinal from Indonesia last month.

Jakarta's archbishop, Monsignor Ignatius Suharyo, was one of the 13 new cardinals appointed during a meeting in the Vatican on Oct. 5.

Suharyo, who has held the position of archbishop since 2010, is among the 10 cardinals under the age of 80 who are eligible to elect a new pope. In addition, Pope Francis also appointed three other cardinals over 80 to honor their distinguished service to the Catholic Church.

Suharyo is the third cardinal ever from Indonesia, following in the footsteps of former Semarang archbishop Justinus Darmojuwono and former Jakarta archbishop Julius Darmaatmadja.

Attending the reception on Thursday, Suharyo told The Jakarta Post that he hoped to see more interfaith dialogues in the future between religious institutions in Indonesia and the Holy See.

Concluding his remarks, Pioppo cited the appointment of a new bishop to the Ruteng diocese in East Nusa Tenggara. He said the move made the Vatican even closer to the Indonesian churches, to the entire nation and to all its inhabitants.

He was referring to monsignor Siprianus Hormat, who was named the new bishop of Ruteng on Wednesday evening, replacing Mgr. Hubertus Leteng who resigned from his post two years ago.