Luke Luedy
Staff Writer
Pope Francis will be embarking on a 12-day trip across Southeast Asia. The pontiff will visit Singapore, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste. The multinational voyage was originally scheduled for 2020, but the outbreak of COVID-19 pushed it back.
The pope aims to achieve a variety of goals during this trip.
One is to express the importance of climate change. According to Radio Free Asia, a non-profit organization specializing in news across the continent, Southeast Asian ocean levels are at their peak height, compared to 2021. Many expect the pope to stress the importance of keeping the Earth healthy, as it is one of the Lord’s greatest gifts.
Of equal importance on the trip is bolstering interfaith bonds and communications. In 2023, Indonesia had a religious demographic of 87.06 percent Muslim, and 3.06 percent Catholic. Indonesia currently contains the highest number of Muslims in the world.
The pope, in Indonesia, will be visiting the Istiqlal mosque, the ninth largest mosque in the world. There, he will meet with delegates representing Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Protestantism and Confucianism to discuss religious dialogues. This is according to an article by the Associated Press.
“Unity,” the pope said during a homily at the solemnity of the conversion of St. Paul back in 2023, “happens when we walk together,” reinforcing this religious open-mindedness.
Lastly, the pope will be traveling to these nations, in part, due to their growing Catholic identities. Singapore, although having religious demographics that are roughly split evenly between faiths, has seen a gradual growth in Christianity, maintaining around 18 percent. Timor-Leste, in addition, has a population that is 97 percent Catholic.
And more broadly, the pope’s wide-ranging trip breaks ground in other facets. His travels echo those of St. John Paul II, who visited the four nations during frequent papal trips. John Paul II visited Indonesia, the first stop in the current pope’s travels, in 1989.
Pope Francis’ tour will be the longest taken in his papal position. Some have voiced concerns about the trip’s length due to his age of 87 and due to a fractured knee, the pontiff has often used a wheelchair to move. According to an article by the BBC, a doctor and two nurses will travel alongside the pope.