Pope Francis is set to sign a document on religious tolerance during the second day of his apostolic visit to Indonesia.
According to Nasaruddin Umar, grand imam of the Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, the document will focus on key solutions for “humanitarian, tolerance, and environmental issues.”
The document signing will be part of the Holy Father’s interreligious meeting at Istiqlal Mosque, the largest mosque in Southeast Asia, on September 5.
“Istiqlal Mosque will witness this historic event, where the world can see that tolerance and harmony are upheld in Indonesia,” said Umar during a meeting at the Ministry of Communication on August 26.
The grand imam will welcome Pope Francis to the venue, which can hold up to 120,000 people.
The mosque, opened in February 1978 to commemorate Indonesia’s independence, is connected to the Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Cathedral through a so-called Tunnel of Friendship.
The 28.3-meter tunnel was built by the Indonesian government in 2020 as a symbol of religious harmony.
The pope’s interreligious meeting will be one of the highlights of his visit to Muslim-dominated Indonesia, where only 3% of the population is Catholic.
His presence is also expected to boost religious harmony in the country where religious freedom conditions remained poor, as per data from the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) in 2023.
The Holy Father will be in Indonesia from September 3 to 6. His scheduled activities include a meeting with President Joko Widodo and a Holy Mass at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium.
This is the pope’s first stop for his 11-day apostolic visit to Asia and Oceania.
The longest overseas trip in his entire pontificate, the journey will also bring him to East Timor, Papua New Guinea, and Singapore.
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