Pope Francis, seated in a wheelchair, is greeted during an official welcoming ceremony at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, on the outskirts of Jakarta, Indonesia, on September 3, 2024. Indonesia’s Minister of Religious Affairs Yaqut Cholil Kumas (center left) walks. Photo credit: AP
Pope Francis arrived in Indonesia on Tuesday (September 3, 2024) for the first leg of an ambitious visit. Asia-Pacific tour Where he is expected to urge global action on climate change, which will be his longest trip to date.
The 87-year-old pope landed at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta airport on a chartered ITA Airways flight, accompanied by his entourage and journalists.
Pope Francis will also visit East Timor, Singapore and Papua New Guinea over the next 10 days.
Seated in a wheelchair, he left the plane via an elevator and was given a bouquet of local produce by two children dressed in traditional Indonesian costume.
He was greeted on a red carpet surrounded by honor guards, by Indonesia’s religious affairs minister, its ambassador to the Vatican and several of the country’s bishops, before getting into a waiting car and driving away, waving and smiling.
The elderly pope was not scheduled to attend any public events on Tuesday to allow him time to rest after a 13-hour overnight flight from Rome.
Inter-religious meeting
His first official event will be on Wednesday, when he will address Indonesia’s political leaders. On Thursday, Francis will attend an event. Interfaith meeting at Istiqlal MosqueThe largest mosque in South East Asia.
The Asia-Pacific tour will last a total of 12 days and will be the Pope’s longest trip to date. When he arrives back in Rome late on September 13, he will have traveled nearly 33,000 km (20,505 miles).
The pope, who pushed for the 2015 Paris climate accord, is expected to continue his appeal to confront the dangers of a warming world.
Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, with a population of at least 10 million, is vulnerable to the effects of climate change, with frequent flooding and land subsidence. The government is in the process of building a new capital, Nusantara, on the island of Borneo.
Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, has a population of around 280 million, of whom just 3% are Catholic.
Ahead of the pope’s arrival, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said his people had extended a warm welcome to Francis, which had been planned long ago but was delayed because of the pandemic.
“This is a very historic visit,” he told reporters.
“Indonesia and the Vatican are equally committed to promoting peace and fraternity and ensuring the prosperity of the people.”