Pope, Indonesia imam warn against using religion to stoke conflict

Grand Imam of Istiqlal Mosque Nasaruddin Umar (L) meets with Pope Francis during a family photo following an interreligious meeting with religious leaders at the Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta on September 5, 2024. Agence France-Presse

JAKARTA — Pope Francis and a top Indonesian imam warned Thursday against using religion to stoke conflict, before the 87-year-old pontiff holds mass for tens of thousands at a football stadium in Jakarta.

The pope and Grand Imam Nasaruddin Umar signed a declaration at Istiqlal Mosque in one of the final major set pieces of Francis’s three-day visit to the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, which kicked off a grueling tour around the Asia-Pacific.

Unity between faiths has been the central theme of the pontiff’s trip and the declaration called for “religious harmony for the sake of humanity” at Southeast Asia’s biggest mosque.

READ: Pope packs first day in Indonesia with visits to president, clergy

“The global phenomenon of dehumanization is marked especially by widespread violence and conflict. It is particularly worrying that religion is often instrumentalized in this regard,” it read.

“The role of religion should include promoting and safeguarding the dignity of every human life.”

In a speech before leaders of Indonesia’s six recognized religions — Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Confucianism — Francis underlined a message of unity, saying “we are all brothers, all pilgrims, all on our way to God, beyond what differentiates us.”

READ: Pope arrives in Muslim-majority Indonesia to start Asia-Pacific tour

The pope was welcomed to the mosque by a percussion band often used in Islamic ceremonies.

Once seated, he and Nasaruddin listened to a passage from the Koran recited by a young blind girl and a passage from the Bible.

Francis also visited a “tunnel of friendship” that links the mosque to Jakarta’s cathedral across the street, signing a section of the tunnel.

‘Save our environment’

The declaration also pinpointed the environmental crisis as a threat to human civilization and called for “decisive action” to counter global warming.

“The human exploitation of creation, our common home, has contributed to climate change,” it read.

It said climate change had led “to various destructive consequences such as natural disasters, global warming and unpredictable weather patterns”.

Nasaruddin told AFP before the meeting that he and the pope were focused on two messages.

“The first one… humanity is only one, there are no colours. The second one, how to save our environment,” he said.

Francis has made several visits to Muslim-majority countries, and on a 2019 visit to the United Arab Emirates signed a document on human brotherhood with the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam’s prestigious seat of learning.

The trip to Indonesia is the third ever by a pope and the first since John Paul II in 1989.

Catholics represent fewer than three percent of the population of Indonesia — about eight million people, compared with the 87 percent, or 242 million, who are Muslim.

Stadium mass

Francis later moved from the mosque to the headquarters of the Indonesian Bishops’ Conference headquarters where onlookers chanted “Viva Il Papa!”.

But the biggest event of his Indonesia leg will be on Thursday afternoon when he will deliver a mass to nearly 80,000 people seated inside Indonesia’s main football stadium, with tens of thousands more expected outside.

Anastasia Ida Ediati, a 59-year-old notary who was heading to the stadium with 200 other members of her parish, said she was filled with joy that she would catch a glimpse of the pope.

“We Catholics have such a charismatic and humble leader. His visit is especially meaningful for us, as many of us who are older may not have this opportunity again,” she told AFP.

The mass will conclude his Indonesian stopover of a 12-day trip that has tested the pontiff’s fragile health.

On Friday he will go to Papua New Guinea before stops in East Timor and Singapore in what will be the longest tour of his papacy.

He had not travelled abroad since visiting Marseille in France in September last year.

Accompanying him to Indonesia are his personal doctor and two nurses, but that is standard procedure.