JAKARTA: Pope Francis said today interreligious ties must be “strengthened” to fight extremism and intolerance, as he kicked off his Asia-Pacific tour with a stop in Muslim-majority Indonesia.
Interfaith dialogue is “indispensable to confront common challenges, including that of countering extremism and intolerance,” he said in a speech after meeting President Joko Widodo.
The head of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics is on a three-day visit to Indonesia, the first stop in a 12-day trip that will take in Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore.
“In order to foster a peaceful and fruitful harmony that ensures peace... the Church desires to increase interreligious dialogue,” he told officials at the presidential palace in Jakarta.
Indonesia has long struggled with Islamist militancy, including bombings on the resort island of Bali in 2002 that left 202 people dead.
The attacks were the deadliest in Indonesian history and led to a crackdown on militancy.
Security was stepped up, with roads around key sites where the pope is scheduled to visit re-routed or closed.
The speech was one of the first events in a packed schedule in the Indonesian capital, including an address at the city’s cathedral later in the day and a mass at the 80,000-seater national football stadium tomorrow. — AFP
