After more than 13 hours aboard the papal flight, Pope Francis lands in Jakarta, as he sets forth upon his 45th Apostolic Journey abroad, and longest thus far of his pontificate, to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste, and Singapore.
Pope Francis has arrived in Jakarta, kicking off his 45th Apostolic Journey abroad to Asia and Oceania.
The flight arrived a few minutes early at the Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in the Indonesian capital at about 11:19 AM local time. The ITA-Airways papal flight, carrying the Pope and the journalists following the Journey, had left Rome’s Fiumicino International Airport at 5:32 PM local time Monday afternoon.
Aboard the aircraft, the Holy Father individually greeted the press accompanying him.
Once landed, the Holy Father was welcomed warmly in Jakarta. While he will take it easy on Tuesday with no public events on his schedule, on Wednesday, the Pope will have several appointments in the capital as he kicks off the intense 12-day Visit.
The Holy Father will spend three nights in Jakarta, before continuing his Asiatic Visit, marking the longest thus far of his pontificate, to Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste, and Singapore. The Pope will be welcomed by Cardinals in each country, three of whom were created Cardinals by Pope Francis himself, as the first-ever Eminences of their countries.
Indonesia
Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim majority nation, is a very large country consisting of many islands, almost 17,000 of them and many tribes, ethnic groups, languages and cultures. Before Pope Francis, two Popes had visited the country: Pope St. Paul VI in 1970 and Pope St. John Paul II in 1989.
This Apostolic Visit to Southeast Asia is a visit Pope Francis has been anticipating prior to the pandemic.
Given that Indonesia is widely seen as a model of tolerance and coexistence, the Pope, who wrote his encyclical Fratelli tutti on human fraternity, likely will continue promoting human fraternity and interreligious dialogue.
Even if Catholics make up about 3 percent of the primarily Muslim population, that 3 percent, however, is some 8 million Catholics of the country’s 280 million people in the country built on respect for individuals and their differing religious beliefs.
The Pope will spend three nights in Jakarta, where he will hold an interreligious meeting in the Istiqlal Mosque and will celebrate Mass for the country’s Catholics.
In an interview with Vatican News, Cardinal Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo of Jakarta suggested it is very common for men and women of different faiths, such as Catholics and Muslims, to marry, which is not typical within other Muslim-majority countries. He also noted that often priests come from families where a parent is Muslim or Buddhist.
For all these reasons, it is fitting Pope Francis travels here with the motto ‘Faith, Fraternity, Compassion.’
On board with Pope Francis
We must have been about 40 minutes into the ITA Airways papal flight to Jakarta for the first stop of the Pope‘s 12-day visit to four countries in Asia and Oceania.
As per protocol, we boarded the plane well before the Holy Father and were well settled in the section at the back of the plane reserved for the press.
Spirits were high, and old friends and acquaintances of many journeys past were chatting across the isles, when suddenly a crack in the curtains separating the various sections of the plane gave way to an expectant lull and buzz of excitement: Pope Francis had come to greet us!
He paused at the top of the aisle, and with a big smile and gentle voice, said, “Thank you!” to the some 85 journalists accredited to the papal plane.
And then, contrary to what had been planned, he walked all the way down the left-hand isle and back up the right, stopping to shake hands and exchange a personal greeting with every reporter, editor, cameraman and video-maker on board.
His priceless (and tireless) aid, Salvatore Scolozzi, who looks after “the press” every minute during the journey, introduced newcomers and recalled the names and publications of the veterans, one by one.
The Pope had a word for each. Some asked for prayers for friends in distress, some offered their rosaries to be blessed, others had brought a gift for the Holy Father, like the torch from a migrant rescue boat that helped a group of migrants make their way to safety through the darkness of the unknown.
One gift he appeared to appreciate in particular, was the t-shirt of a young boy who was stabbed to death in Spain just a few weeks ago as he played football with his friends.
Prejudice, fear and hate speech had groundlessly pointed to the involvement of a North African migrant sheltered nearby, singling him out as the killer and giving life to a groundswell of hatred and xenophobia until police investigations led to the true culprit – a local man with psychiatric problems – and the migrant’s innocence was publicly proclaimed.
The Pope’s “thank you,” I realized, was for conveying his message and his closeness as he travels to faraway corners of the earth. But it was also for telling the stories of those who are forced to flee their homes, who embark on dark and dangerous journeys, who find themselves rejected, turned away, marginalized and even sentenced and condemned for sins they did not commit, just like Jesus.
Source: Vatican News
