Pope Francis, in his wheelchair, is greeted by Indonesian Minister of Spiritual Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas (middle left) throughout an official welcoming ceremony at Soekarno-Hatta Worldwide Airport in Tangerang, outdoors Jakarta, Indonesia, Sept. 3, 2024. | Photograph credit score: AP
Pope Francis arrived in Indonesia on Tuesday (3 September 2024) for the primary leg of an formidable tour of Asia and the Pacific, the place he’s anticipated to induce international motion on local weather change throughout what shall be his longest journey but.
The 87-year-old pontiff landed at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta airport on a chartered ITA Airways flight that additionally carried his entourage and accompanying journalists.
Pope Francis may even go to East Timor, Singapore and Papua New Guinea over the following 10 days.
Sitting in a wheelchair, he disembarked from the airplane by way of an elevator and was handed a bouquet of native produce by two kids wearing conventional Indonesian costumes.
On a purple carpet flanked by honour guards, he was greeted by Indonesia’s minister of spiritual affairs, its ambassador to the Vatican and several other of the nation’s bishops, earlier than stepping right into a ready automotive, waving and smiling as he drove away.
The aged pope was not scheduled to attend any public occasions on Tuesday to permit himself time to relaxation after a 13-hour in a single day flight from Rome.
Interfaith assembly
His first official act shall be on Wednesday, when he’ll deal with Indonesia’s political leaders. On Thursday, Francis will participate in an interfaith assembly on the Istiqlal mosque, the most important in Southeast Asia.
The Asia-Pacific tour will final 12 days in complete and is the longest journey but undertaken by the pontiff, who may have travelled practically 33,000 kilometres (20,505 miles) by the point he arrives in Rome late within the night on 13 September.
The pope, who championed the 2015 Paris local weather settlement, is predicted to proceed his calls to confront the risks of world warming.
Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital with no less than 10 million inhabitants, is susceptible to the results of local weather change, with continual flooding and subsidence. The federal government is constructing a brand new capital, Nusantara, on the island of Borneo.
Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, has round 280 million inhabitants, of whom solely 3% are Catholic.
Forward of the pope’s arrival, Indonesian President Joko Widodo stated his individuals had warmly welcomed Francis in a go to that had lengthy been deliberate however was delayed by the pandemic.
“This can be a very historic go to,” he advised reporters.
“Indonesia and the Vatican have the same dedication to cultivating peace and brotherhood, in addition to making certain the prosperity of their peoples.”
