Pope Francis sounds warning on religious intolerance

Pontiff urges Indonesia’s political leaders to defend the country’s founding principles of social justice and ‘unity in diversity’.

Francis and Joko Widodo get their heads together at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday. Picture: AFP

The Pope has urged Indonesia’s political leaders to defend the country’s founding principles of social justice and “unity in diversity” during a speech at Jakarta’s presidential palace on Wednesday in which he also warned of the dangers religious intolerance posed to the world’s most populous Muslim nation.

A day after arriving in the Indonesian capital on the first leg of an 11-day regional tour that includes East Timor, Papua New Guinea and Singapore, the 87-year-old described the Southeast Asian nation’s constitutional commitment to upholding religious and ethnic diversity as one of its “greatest riches”.

But he called for more inter-­religious dialogue to eliminate the prejudices, “imbalances and suffering that still persist in some areas of the country”, and to help counter extremism and intolerance.

“This wise and delicate balance, between multiplicity of cultures and different ideological divisions and the ideals that cement unity, must be continuously defended against imbalances,” Francis said. “It’s a work of craftsmanship entrusted to everyone but in a special way to those in political life who should strive towards harmony, equity, respect for the fundamental rights of human beings, sustainable development, solidarity and the pursuit of peace both within society and with other peoples and nations.”

The papal message follows a tense few weeks in Indonesia that culminated in nationwide protests at an attempt by parliamentarians to overturn court rulings seeking to open regional elections to more competition, and to block a legal amendment that would have allowed President Joko Widodo’s second son, Kaesang Pangarep, to run for office.

Jokowi’s eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, will be inaugurated as vice-president to ­president-elect Prabowo Subianto in October, a year after the constitutional court approved changes to election nomination criteria that cleared a path for his candidacy.

In what many Indonesians will read as a veiled reference to the outgoing leader’s efforts to secure a post-presidential power base, Francis said “Harmony is achieved when we are committed not only to our own interests and ­vision but to the good of all”.

Feby Indirani, an Indonesian author who often tackles religious issues, told The Australian the Pope’s humble travel arrangements – a commercial airline, Toyota mini-van and a room at the Vatican’s Jakarta embassy – had fascinated many Indonesians and sparked unfavourable comparisons online with Kaesang and his wife’s recent trip to the US on a private jet. “The Pope is such a towering figure yet appears so down-to-earth and that’s a really inspiring thing for Indonesian people to see right now – that such a big leader can behave in such a humble way,” Indirani said.

People snap off a picture as Francis leaves the Vatican embassy in Jakarta. Picture: AFP

In a palace ceremony full of military pomp and with schoolchildren dressed to represent the country’s ethnic diversity, the visibly frail religious leader used a wheelchair for much of the event and appeared to struggle in the heat when required to stand for formalities.

Jokowi kept his comments brief, thanking Francis for his visit, and for the Vatican’s advocacy “for peace in Palestine and supporting a two-state solution, as war benefits no one”.

“War only brings suffering and hardship to ordinary people,” he said. “For Indonesia, diversity is a blessing, and tolerance is the fertiliser for unity and peace as a ­nation. This spirit of peace and tolerance is what Indonesia and the Vatican wish to promote, especially in a world that is increasingly turbulent.”

While 87 per cent of Indonesia’s 275 million people are Muslim, at least 8.3 million identify as Catholic across an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands.

Indonesia has long-touted its tradition of religious tolerance, though in recent years Christians have been the target of numerous deadly attacks by Islamic extremists. Christian communities also face onerous restrictions, and sometimes serious community backlash, in building churches, forcing many congregations to worship in spaces inside shopping malls and in other temporary ­arrangements.

More than 86,000 people are expected to attend a papal mass at Jakarta’s Bung Karno Stadium on Thursday afternoon, with many having travelled long distances to make the rare event.

Outside Jakarta’s main cathedral on Wednesday, retired schoolteacher Teresia Naing­golan, 60, said she left her home in Mentawai, a largely Christian enclave in West Sumatra, last Thursday with three friends and travelled by boat and bus over four days to reach the capital.

“We are doing this for the joy of meeting the Pope,” she said.

“We desire peace in our hearts; just seeing his smile makes us happy.”