Pope Francis arrived in Muslim-majority Indonesia on Tuesday to kick off a four-nation tour of the Asia-Pacific that will be the longest and farthest of the 87-year-old’s papacy.
The head of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics touched down in the capital, Jakarta, for a three-day visit devoted to inter-religious ties, and will then travel to Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and Singapore.
The 12-day tour will test the pontiff’s increasingly fragile health, but he is often energised by being among his flock and he emerged from the 13-hour flight smiling and waving.
“I thank you for coming on this journey. I think it is the longest one [flight] I have done,” he told reporters onboard his chartered plane after landing.
He disembarked in Jakarta in a wheelchair to an honour guard, greetings by Indonesian officials, including the religious affairs minister, and a traditional bouquet from two children.
Francis was then picked up from the red carpet by a civilian Toyota car, choosing a modest vehicle rather than a luxury one typically used by world leaders.
He had no official engagements scheduled on Tuesday after the long flight from Rome but the Vatican said he hosted a meeting with a group of orphans, refugees and homeless people at its Jakarta mission shortly after he arrived.
The pope is scheduled to meet President Joko Widodo on Wednesday in the first big set piece of his visit to the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country.
“This is a very historic visit,” Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, said on Tuesday. “Indonesia and the Vatican have a similar commitment to peace and brotherhood.”
Catholics represent fewer than 3% of the population of Indonesia, at about 8 million people, compared with the 87% (242 million) who are Muslim. But they are one of six officially recognised religions or denominations in the nominally secular country, including Protestantism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Confucianism.
On Thursday, Francis will meet representatives of all six at Istiqlal mosque, the largest in south-east Asia and a symbol of religious coexistence. It is linked via a “tunnel of friendship” to the cathedral across the road, where Christians in recent days have been taking selfies with a lifesized pope cutout.
He will then host a mass and deliver a sermon at Indonesia’s 80,000-seat national football stadium.
Despite Indonesia’s official recognition of different faiths, there are concerns about growing discrimination, including against Christians, with local Catholics hoping the pope will speak out.
But Michel Chambon, a theologian at the National University of Singapore, said the pope would press a wider message he had already delivered in other Muslim-majority countries, from Iraq to Bahrain, Turkey and Morocco.
The visit “is not really aimed at Catholics in Indonesia” but is intended to highlight the global importance of Islamic-Christian dialogue, he said.
That message was already being felt by some in Jakarta. “We enjoy it because when it’s our religious events, they [Catholics] also show tolerance to us,” said Ranggi Prathita, a 34-year-old Muslim who has been selling customised pope T-shirts.
At the Istiqlal mosque, Francis will sign a joint declaration with its grand imam focusing on “dehumanisation” through the spread of conflict, as well as environmental degradation, said the Indonesian bishops’ conference. Francis has repeatedly urged the world to do more to combat the climate crisis and mitigate its effects, including rising sea levels, which threaten Jakarta.
Indonesia has experienced terrorist attacks over recent decades, including radical Islamist bombings on the resort island of Bali in 2002 that killed 202 people. Security has been stepped up for the pope’s visit, with roads around key sites where he is scheduled to visit re-routed or closed.
His trip to Indonesia is the third ever by a pope and the first since John Paul II in 1989. Originally planned for 2020 but postponed due to the Covid pandemic, the visit takes place just three months before his 88th birthday.
Francis now routinely uses a wheelchair to move around, underwent hernia surgery last year and has been plagued by respiratory issues. He had not travelled abroad since visiting Marseille in France in September last year. He will be travelling to Indonesia with his personal doctor and two nurses, but the Vatican spokesperson, Matteo Bruni, said this was normal, with no extra precautions in place.
