Pope Francis, imam of Southeast Asia’s largest mosque make joint call to fight violence, protect planet

Grand Imam Nasrudin Omar of the Istiqlal Mosque kisses Pope Francis after an interfaith meeting with religious leaders in Jakarta, Indonesia, on September 5, 2024. | Photo credit: via Reuters

Pope Francis on Thursday (September 5, 2024) joined the grand imam of Southeast Asia’s largest mosque to pledge to fight religiously motivated violence and work together to protect the environment and issued a joint call for interreligious friendship and common purpose. Pope’s visit to Indonesia,

In an encounter full of symbolic meaning and a personal touch, Pope Francis visited Jakarta’s iconic Istiqlal Mosque for an interfaith gathering with representatives of the six officially recognized religions in Indonesia — Islam, Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Catholicism and Protestantism.

There, he and the Grand Imam, Nasrudin Omar, stood at the ground-floor entrance to the “Friendship Tunnel”, an underpass that links the mosque complex to the neighbouring Catholic cathedral, Our Lady of the Assumption.

Indonesia, home to the world’s largest Muslim population, has touted the tunnel as a strong sign of its commitment to religious freedom, which is enshrined in the constitution but has been challenged by repeated incidents of discrimination and violence against religious minorities.

Approaching the elevator that leads to the tunnel, Pope Francis said it was a powerful sign of how different religious traditions “play a role in helping everyone to pass through the tunnels of life, so that our eyes turn toward the light.”

He encouraged Indonesians of all religious traditions to “seek God and contribute to the building of open societies based on mutual respect and love, capable of guarding against rigidity, fundamentalism and extremism, which are always dangerous and can never be justified.”

The Pope visits Indonesia, 11-day four-nation tour of Asia and OceaniaEncouraging Indonesia to fight religiously motivated violence and pledging the Catholic Church’s commitment to greater fraternity.

The meeting at the mosque reflected the personal aspect of that policy, with Pope Francis and Imam Omar – the old pope and the young imam – displaying a clear affinity for one another. As Francis was leaving, he took Imam Omar’s hand, kissed it and placed it on his cheek.

The Pope has made improving Catholic-Muslim relations a hallmark of his papacy and has prioritized visits to majority-Muslim countries to advance this agenda.

During a visit to the Gulf nation in 2019, Pope Francis and the imam of al-Azhar, the 1,000-year-old center of Sunni learning, launched the “Human Fraternity” movement, calling for increased Christian-Muslim efforts to promote peace around the world. More recently, the pope traveled to Najaf, Iraq, in 2021 to meet with the top Shiite cleric, who offered a message of peaceful coexistence.

The new initiative launched on Thursday, called the “Istiqlal Declaration,” has now become another pillar of Pope Francis’ interreligious efforts. It was signed by the Pope and Imam Omar in a formal ceremony in a tent at the Istiqlal Mosque compound. Other religious representatives present at the meeting did not co-sign it, but organizers listed them as “with.”

The document said religion should never be misused to justify conflict or violence, but rather should be used to resolve conflicts and protect and promote human dignity. It also called for “decisive action” to protect the environment and its resources, and blamed man-made actions for the current climate crisis.

“Human exploitation of our common home, creation, has contributed to climate change, which has led to various devastating consequences such as natural disasters, global warming and unpredictable weather patterns,” it read. “This ongoing environmental crisis has become an obstacle to the harmonious coexistence of people.”

Fighting climate change has been a key priority for the Argentine Jesuit pope, who has issued encyclicals stressing the moral dimension of caring for God’s creation. The climate issue is of existential importance to Indonesia, a tropical archipelago stretching across the equator and home to the world’s third-largest rainforest and a variety of endangered wildlife and plants.

Grand Imam Omar, while addressing the gathering, said that the Istiqlal Mosque was designed by a Christian architect and is used for various social and educational programmes, benefiting not only Muslims but everyone.

“Since I have served as the Grand Imam of Istiqlal Mosque, I have stressed that Istiqlal Mosque is not only a house of worship for Muslims, but also a great house for humanity,” he said. “We hope and our principle is that humanity is one, so anyone can enter and benefit.”