Refer Report

Pope Francis (87) will begin a tour of four Southeast Asian countries on the 2nd. This tour, which will continue until the 13th, is the longest and most distant trip during the Pope’s tenure. It is expected that Pope Francis will use this schedule to speak out about inter-religious harmony and responses to the climate crisis.

According to AFP on the 1st (local time), Pope Francis will visit Jakarta, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Singapore starting on the 2nd. During his 12-day visit, the longest of his tenure, he will deliver 16 speeches and participate in more than 40 events to unite the Catholic community in Southeast Asia.

The Pope’s Southeast Asian tour is interpreted as being aimed at promoting religious diversity. Indonesia, the first destination, is the world’s largest Muslim country, with 90% of its 279.79 million population being Muslims. However, in addition to Islam, it also recognizes six other religions as official religions: Protestantism, Catholicism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Confucianism. Catholicism accounts for only about 2.9% of the population, but in terms of number of believers, it has the largest number of believers in Asia, following China and the Philippines.

This is the first papal visit to Indonesia in 35 years since Pope John Paul II’s visit in 1989. Pope Francis plans to visit the Istiqlal Mosque, the largest in Southeast Asia, and meet with representatives of six religions. He is also expected to visit the 28.3m-long ‘Friendship Tunnel’ connecting the Istiqlal Mosque and Jakarta Cathedral. The Pope is scheduled to meet with outgoing President Joko Widodo and hold a mass at the Jakarta Stadium attended by over 80,000 people. Pope Francis has been working hard for dialogue between Catholics and Muslims, such as becoming the first pope to visit the Arabian Peninsula in 2019.

Tourists are seen sightseeing in front of the Jakarta Cathedral in Indonesia on the 30th of last month (local time) ahead of Pope Francis’ visit. EPA Yonhap News

There are also expectations that this visit will send a message urging action on the climate crisis. Indonesia is sinking due to rising sea levels, and Papua New Guinea is suffering from indiscriminate logging and natural disasters.

“The goal (of the trip) is to strengthen the Pope’s capacity and build rapport with local Catholics,” Michel Chambong, a professor at the National University of Singapore, told AFP. “If the Vatican wants to demonstrate its catholicity, it must do so in line with the traditions of Asia, which is increasingly playing a central role in the international order.”

The reason for choosing Southeast Asia as the destination for the tour is also due to the expansion of Catholicism. According to Reuters, Papua New Guinea has about 2.5 million Catholics out of a population of about 9 million, and East Timor has about 97% Catholics. Singapore has about 210,000 Catholics out of a population of 5.92 million. Shihoko Goto, a researcher at the Woodrow Wilson Center, a U.S. think tank, told Reuters, “This visit shows the strategic importance of Asia to the Vatican.”

However, the health of the 87-year-old Pope could be a factor. No Pope in history has embarked on such a long-distance and long-term journey at the age of 87. His predecessor, Benedict XVI, stepped down at the age of 85, and John Paul II died at the age of 84.

This visit was originally planned for 2020, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Pope’s health has deteriorated in the meantime. The Pope has not traveled abroad since visiting Marseille, France, in September last year, and he also canceled his speech at the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP28) in November last year. However, AFP reported, citing a Vatican official, that the Pope’s health has been good recently, and that this visit does not involve any special medical measures.

Source: Korean