(Jakarta) Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Jakarta signed a joint document on Thursday calling for action against the “religious instrumentalization of conflicts” and global warming, during an interreligious meeting in front of the Istiqlal Mosque.
In the “Istiqlal Declaration”, the two religious leaders express concern about the “dehumanization” linked to the “generalization of conflicts and violence” and call for “decisive measures to be taken to preserve the integrity of the natural environment and its resources”.
Interreligious dialogue is one of the main themes of this three-day papal visit to the archipelago of 17,500 islands, which is home to the largest Muslim population in the world (242 million, or 87% of the inhabitants), for some eight million Catholics (less than 3%).
We have two big messages. The first is that […] Humanity is one, there are no colors. And the second, how to save our environment. These are two very important topics today.
Nasaruddin Umar, Grand Imam of Jakarta
“Looking deep, grasping what flows deep within our lives […] “We discover that we are all brothers, all pilgrims, all on the journey towards God, beyond what differentiates us,” the 87-year-old Argentine Pope then declared in his speech, in the presence of representatives of the six officially recognized faiths in Indonesia (Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Confucianism).
“We take the measure, with responsibility, of the serious and sometimes dramatic crises which threaten the future of humanity, in particular wars and conflicts […] without forgetting the environmental crisis which has become an obstacle to growth and the coexistence of peoples,” the sovereign pontiff also declared.
In the afternoon, around 6 a.m. (Eastern time), Francis will preside over an open-air high mass at the Gelora Bung Karno national stadium, before 80,000 faithful, a high point of communion with the Indonesian population, while an equal number are expected to rush to follow the ceremony outside the stadium.
This visit is part of a marathon tour which, after leaving Jakarta on Friday morning, will take him to Papua New Guinea, then to East Timor and Singapore, where he will complete a 32,000 km journey on September 13.