Spiritual leaders collect at Istiqlal mosque and signal a declaration calling for “spiritual concord for the sake of humanity.”
Pope Francis and Nasaruddin Umar, grand imam of Jakarta’s Istiqlal mosque, have signed a joint declaration calling for interfaith friendship, taking a stand in opposition to spiritual violence and urging united motion to guard the planet.
The 87-year-old pontiff met Nasaruddin on the mosque, the biggest in Southeast Asia, on Thursday, the third day of his go to to Indonesia, the opening leg of a two-week Asia-Pacific tour that can even take him to Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore.
Nasaruddin, 65, stated the assertion centered on two messages: “The primary… humanity is one, there are not any colors. The second, how you can save the environment.”
Opening his speech on the mosque, Francis highlighted the similarity of religions, saying that “wanting deeply… we uncover that we’re all brothers, all pilgrims, all on the journey towards God, past what differentiates us.”
He warned in opposition to utilizing faith as a weapon to gas battle and in addition raised the environmental disaster as an existential risk to human civilization.
“We assume the duty of addressing the intense… crises that threaten the way forward for humanity, comparable to wars and conflicts,” he stated, including that the environmental disaster was “an impediment to the expansion and coexistence of peoples.”
The Pope was welcomed into the mosque by a percussion band typically utilized in Islamic ceremonies and, as soon as seated, he and Nasaruddin listened to a passage from the Koran recited by a younger blind woman and a passage from the Bible.
The Istiqlal mosque is situated reverse Jakarta’s cathedral and is linked by a “tunnel of friendship,” an emblem of non secular fraternity. Francis visited the tunnel earlier than the assembly, imparted blessings and signed a bit of it.
The tunnel is seen in Indonesia as a strong image of non secular freedom, enshrined within the nation’s structure, however has been challenged by repeated instances of discrimination and violence in opposition to spiritual minorities.
Between January 2021 and July 2024, at the very least 123 instances of intolerance have been recorded, together with rejection, closure or destruction of locations of worship and bodily assaults, Amnesty Worldwide stated on the eve of Francis’ go to.
Later Thursday, Francis will have a good time Mass earlier than practically 80,000 folks at Indonesia’s important soccer stadium, with tens of hundreds extra anticipated outdoors.
Many individuals have travelled from throughout Indonesia’s huge island archipelago to attend the occasion. Catholicism is considered one of six formally recognised religions or denominations in Indonesia, together with Protestantism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Confucianism.
They make up lower than 3 % of the nation’s inhabitants – some eight million folks – in contrast with 87 % – or 242 million – who’re Muslim.
