Pope and imam of Southeast Asia’s largest mosque make joint call to fight violence, protect planet

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Pope Francis and the grand imam of Southeast Asia’s largest mosque vowed Thursday to fight religiously inspired violence and protect the environment, issuing a joint call for interfaith friendship and common cause at the heart of Francis’ visit to Indonesia.

A second highlight of the trip came later in the day when Francis celebrated a jubilant afternoon Mass in Jakarta’s steamy stadium before an estimated 100,000 people who cheered wildly as he looped the track in his open-topped popemobile.

In the morning event at Jakarta’s iconic Istiqlal Mosque, Francis presided over an interreligious gathering rich with symbolic meaning and personal touches. Present were representatives of the six religions that are officially recognized in Indonesia: Islam, Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Catholicism and Protestantism.

Francis and the grand imam, Nasaruddin Umar, stood at the ground-level entrance to the “Tunnel of Friendship,” an underpass which connects the mosque compound with the neighboring Catholic cathedral, Our Lady of the Assumption.

Indonesia, which has the world’s largest Muslim population, has held out the tunnel as a tangible sign of its commitment to religious freedom, which is enshrined in the constitution but has been challenged by repeated instances of discrimination and violence against religious minorities.

From January 2021 to July 2024, there were at least 123 cases of intolerance, including rejection, closure or destruction of places of worship and physical attacks, Amnesty International noted on the eve of Francis’ visit.

Approaching the elevator to the tunnel, Francis said it was a potent sign of how different religious traditions “have a role to play in helping everyone pass through the tunnels of life with our eyes turned towards the light.”

He encouraged Indonesians of every religious tradition to “walk in search of God and contribute to building open societies, … protecting against rigidity, fundamentalism and extremism, which are always dangerous and never justifiable.”