Invitation is offered during papal audience with Indonesian religious affairs minister
Indonesia’s Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas shakes Pope Francis’ hand at the Vatican on June 8. (Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Religious Affairs)
Indonesia’s Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas has met Pope Francis at the Vatican to officially deliver an invitation for the leader of the Catholic Church to visit the predominantly Muslim country.
“I would like to deliver President Joko Widodo’s invitation to His Holiness to visit Indonesia,” Qoumas said during his audience with the pope on June 8.
“Indonesia maintains tolerance and peace among people from different religious backgrounds, including followers of traditional beliefs. We would love to see His Holiness in Indonesia to get first-hand experience about this diversity.”
Indonesia has six recognized religions — Buddhism, Catholicism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam and Protestantism — and around 200 traditional beliefs.
Qoumas also presented greetings from Indonesian bishops to Pope Francis and told him that all Catholics in the country longed for a visit.
“We pray and hope that His Holiness will stay safe and healthy,” he said. “We, too, uphold and respect fraternity which His Holiness believes can create and promote peace in Indonesia.”
“We hope these religious leaders can also promote such harmony to the international community"
Qoumas, who is known for promoting the rights of many minority groups, said he was grateful to be able to see the pope at the Vatican for a second time.
They first met in September 2019, when he expressed support for the Document on Human Fraternity signed by Pope Francis and Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb in Abu Dhabi in 2018.
Archbishop Yohanes Harun Yuwono of Palembang, chairman of the Indonesian bishops’ Commission for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, welcomed the invitation.
“We are surely happy with the government’s invitation. All Catholics really want to see him,” the prelate told UCA News.
However, he suggested that the government should not only invite the pope but also religious leaders from across the globe to visit Indonesia so that they can see its plural and harmonious society.
“We hope these religious leaders can also promote such harmony to the international community,” he said.
Pope Francis was supposed to visit Indonesia, Timor-Leste and Papua New Guinea late in 2020 but the trip was canceled when the world was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.
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