In 1989, Pope John Paul III, then the global leader of the Catholic faith, visited Indonesia, the most populous Muslim nation on earth, as part of an interfaith visit covered by the New York Times, headlined “Pope, on delicate ground, visits Indonesia.”
It was a long time ago.
“Indonesians, overwhelmingly, are Muslims, and some are fundamentalists,” the Times wrote. “Moreover, many Catholics are ethnic Chinese, a group not widely loved or admired here.”
Fast forward to 2024, and Indonesia is once again hosting another papal visit – the first since Pope John Paul’s over three decades ago.
The present pontiff, Pope Francis, has kicked off a two-week tour of Asia, which will include stops in Indonesia, Timor Leste, Papua New Guinea, and Singapore – one of the most ambitious trips of his papacy.
The Pope, now 87 years old, arrived in Indonesia on Tuesday and, if early signs are anything to go by, it could be one of his most successful interfaith missions.
Francis arrived in Indonesia by a commercial airline, in a move widely hailed both on Indonesian social media and media outlets, who praised his “humble” approach to the visit. He will also be staying at the Vatican Embassy in Jakarta from September 3-6 rather than in a hotel, which the Jakarta Globe described as “humble accommodation.”
He also elected to ride from the airport to the embassy in a Toyota Innova – one of Indonesia’s favorite cars – rather than opt for a more luxurious ride.
This has all gone down a storm so far with the public, many of whom have been waiting a long time for this moment.
Only two Popes have visited Indonesia previously, the aforementioned Pope John Paul in 1989 and Pope Paul VI in 1970.
Indonesia, which has a population of more than 270 million people, has six officially recognized religions – Catholicism, Protestantism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Confucianism – and Catholicism first came to the country in the 16th century by way of the Portuguese.
Many of the country’s churches and cathedrals date back to the Dutch colonial period before Indonesia declared independence in 1945 and, while around 87 percent of the population is Muslim, only about 3 percent is Catholic.
In addition to delighting the general populace, the Indonesian government also seems keen to make the most of Pope Francis’ visit to display its pluralist and tolerant credentials, which have at times been under strain.
Indonesian churches and other minority places of worship routinely employ tight security measures, particularly around major holidays such as Christmas, due to a spate of bombings over the years.
These have included the Christmas Eve church bombings of 2000, when churches in Jakarta and eight cities across Indonesia were targeted with parcel bombs that killed 18 people.
The attack was masterminded by the hardline group Jemaah Islamiyah, which was also responsible for the deadly 2002 Bali bombing which killed more than 200 people.
In 2018, three churches in the city of Surabaya were attacked by suicide bombers affiliated with the hardline group Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), killing 28 people and, in 2021, the Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in Makassar in Sulawesi was attacked on Palm Sunday, also by suspected JAD members.
As expected, security was tight at Soekarno Hatta International Airport on Tuesday for Pope Francis’ arrival, where he was greeted by Indonesia’s Minister of Religious Affairs, Yaqut Cholil Qoumas.
He also attended a meeting with outgoing president Joko Widodo at the Presidential Palace on Wednesday and met President-elect Prabowo Subianto as part of his trip.
“Your national motto, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, united in diversity, literally means different but still united, expressing the multifaceted reality of peoples firmly united in one nation,” Pope Francis said at the meeting.
“This motto shows that just as your country’s biodiversity becomes a source of richness and beauty, so too your differences contribute to a vast mosaic in which each ceramic is an irreplaceable element in creating an authentic and valuable work,” he added.
Incidentally, Prabowo, who is Muslim, has also long espoused his interfaith credentials.
His sister and brother-in-law, Biantiningsih Miderawati Djojohadikusumo and Joseph Soedradjad Djiwandono, a former governor of the Bank of Indonesia, are Catholic.
To further the agenda of interfaith harmony, Pope Francis will visit Jakarta’s Istiqlal Mosque and tour the “Tunnel of Friendship,” a passage that links the mosque to the city’s main cathedral.
On Thursday, the Pope will hold a mass for some 80,000 worshipers at the Gelora Bung Karno stadium in Jakarta which will be attended by Catholics who will travel from all over Indonesia for the occasion.
In a further show of support, the government has declared September 5 a public holiday in Jakarta.
So far, it all seems so good, yet how much has really changed since 1989?
Religious minorities continue to struggle in Indonesia, and the construction of churches in parts of the country has prompted backlash from conservative communities – something mentioned in the 1989 New York Times article and covered again by a New York Times piece ahead of Pope Francis’ visit entitled “Pope visits Indonesia where Muslim-Christian harmony is under strain.”
As part of the report, the Times visited a church in Jakarta.
“Earlier this year, their congregation’s building was stormed by dozens of angry Muslims, and now they were temporarily gathering in a government-owned building in a different area,” the Times said.
As further detailed by the Times, according to a report by the Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace, a human rights watchdog, there were 329 reported acts of violence against religious minorities in Indonesia in 2023.
“This is the complex reality awaiting Pope Francis as he begins a four-day trip to Indonesia on Tuesday, which will include an interfaith dialogue at the national mosque,” the Times continued.
“There are many vibrant examples of how Christianity and Islam coexist in Indonesia – a dynamic that Francis wants to encourage – but at the same time, religious minorities face discrimination.”