INTER-RELIGIOUS HARMONY
One key theme of the trip is inter-religious harmony. Pope Francis is set to engage not only with local Catholic groups, but also leaders of other faiths and political figures.
He is due to arrive in Jakarta on Tuesday afternoon, and will officially meet Indonesian President Joko Widodo at the Merdeka Palace on Wednesday.
On Thursday, the Pope is then expected to attend an interfaith meeting at Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta before leading a mass at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium complex, where around 80,000 Catholics are anticipated to attend.
Indonesia has the largest Muslim population of any country. Catholics make up 3.1 per cent of its total population of about 280 million.
Observers said the world will look at how much Pope Francis promotes diversity, as well as how much closer he brings the Vatican to Asia.
The tour also holds great significance, given that Asia is considered an important region to the Vatican. Pope Francis has made six previous trips to the continent throughout his papacy.
Dr Michel Chambon, research fellow at the Asia Research Institute’s religion and globalisation cluster, noted that Asia is becoming “more central” in global affairs.
“Asia is maybe one of the few continents that has been able to preserve and develop alternative political models and traditions, religious traditions and political traditions,” he told CNA.
“And so, if the Holy See wants to be truly universal, it has to engage with Asian traditions that have been extremely resilient and creative in engaging with modernity.”
Singapore’s former foreign affairs minister George Yeo, who was also previously a member of the Vatican Council for the Economy, pointed out that Pope Francis has appointed bishops from all over Asia, as well as cardinals from every country in Southeast Asia.
“He does it to express the idea of a universal church, that this is not a European church. It’s not a western church,” Mr Yeo added.