Pope Francis Arrives in Indonesia as Part of 12-Day Asia-Pacific Tour

TaiwanPlus News

Pope Francis has left Rome to begin a 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific. The 87-year-old leader of the Catholic Church will first visit Indonesia, before stopping in Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore.

Transcript

00:00Pope Francis lands in Indonesia for the first leg of the longest and farthest trip of his pontificate, a 12-day Asia-Pacific tour.

00:10His first stop, the world's most populous Muslim nation, Indonesia, with more than 275 million people.

00:23In the capital, Jakarta, police are finalising security preparations.

00:29Here, the 87-year-old leader of the Catholic Church is expected to promote interfaith ties and build religious tolerance.

00:59There are 8 million Catholics in Indonesia, but they represent only 3% of the population.

01:14During his four-day visit here, Pope Francis will celebrate mass for an expected crowd of 80,000 people,

01:21meet the country's outgoing president, Joko Widodo, and visit the country's largest place of worship, the Istiklal Mosque,

01:28where he's expected to tour an underground tunnel of friendship that links the mosque to the country's Catholic cathedral.

01:35The tunnel was built in 2020 as a symbol of religious harmony.

01:40We will make the most of the Pope's visit to talk about the meeting point between religions.

01:49Because we really hope that the meeting point between one religion and another,

01:57one faith and another faith, one ethnic and another ethnic, can be reached.

02:01The Pope will trip here reflects the importance of this region to the Church.

02:05It's one of the places Catholicism is growing significantly.

02:09The Asia-Pacific visit was planned to take place four years ago, but was rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

02:16Pope Francis' presence here is widely welcomed by the public.

02:22I'm straight-forward. I'm a religious person.

02:27But I like it.

02:29It means we're together.

02:31We're united.

02:33We respect each other.

02:35That's what I like.

02:37It's okay for me to come to Indonesia. I like it.

02:40For me, it's very important.

02:42Because our religious communities in Indonesia are diverse.

02:49The Pope's next stop will be Papua New Guinea, where he'll meet with missionaries to discuss climate change.

02:55Before going to East Timor, where Pope John Paul II offered a liturgy in 1989.

03:01And finally, Pope Francis will head to Singapore, where he'll focus on improving ties with China.

03:07Before going to East Timor, where Pope John Paul II offered a liturgy in 1989.

03:13And finally, Pope Francis will head to Singapore, where he'll focus on improving ties with China.

03:19A major tour boasting over 40 events, as the leader of the Catholic Church works to reach the faithful and strengthen ties in the Asia-Pacific.

03:29Dolphine Chen and Rosie Greninger for Taiwan Plus.

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