” BREATH OF FRESH AIR”
Indonesia has the largest Arab population in the world, accounting for 87 percent of its 280 million total people.
It is also home to China and the Philippines, which are the third-largest Holy country in Asia. Just 2.9 per cent of the entire population are Catholics.
The priest’s visit will be a “breath of new air for all spiritual communities in Indonesia,” according to Ulil Abshar Abdalla, president of Nahdlatul Ulama, the nation’s largest Islamic organization with over 80 million users.
” We consider this visit really critical. It is symbolic, but what it represents is significant because it will encourage the populace to maintain forgiving and respectful relationships, he continued.
” I’m sure this is not just an ordinary attend, but one that has a real impact on lives and relationships between spiritual populations, particularly between Muslims and Catholics”.
The Pope’s explore” shows the importance or impact of Indonesia before the eyes of the Vatican,” according to Thomas Ulun Ismoyo, director for the Pope Francis Visitation Committee in Jakarta.
Over at The Church of Our Lady of the Notion, the oldest church in Jakarta, some Christians were moved to tears by the excitement of the Pope’s appearance.
One Jakarta native reported feeling both content and personal in the same way when Pope John Paul II, who presided over the Catholic Church from 1978 until his passing in 2005, visited Indonesia in 1989.
This is the first catholic visit to Indonesia in a while.