Pope Francis Advocates Against Religious Extremism in Indonesia

Pope Francis urged Indonesian political leaders to guard against religious extremism, emphasizing the need for inter-religious dialogue to foster mutual respect and trust. Addressing extremism, he highlighted the distortion of religion through deception and violence. The Pope met with local Catholics, encouraging them not to impose their faith on others.

Pope Francis on Wednesday urged political leaders in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, to guard against religious extremism, which he said distorted people's beliefs through 'deception and violence.' On a packed first full day of his longest ever overseas journey that includes nine days in Southeast Asia, where Christians are a small minority, the pontiff also met local Catholics and asked them not to force their faith on others.

In a speech to Indonesia's political leaders, Francis said the Catholic Church would increase its efforts toward inter-religious dialogue in hopes of helping tamp down extremism. 'In this way, prejudices can be eliminated, and a climate of mutual respect and trust can grow,' the 87-year-old pope said in an address at Jakarta's presidential palace.

'This is indispensable for meeting common challenges, including that of countering extremism and intolerance, which through the distortion of religion attempt to impose their views by using deception and violence,' said Francis. About 87% of Indonesia's population of 280 million is Muslim. Freedom of religion is guaranteed in the country's constitution.

Though Indonesia has seen some instances of Islamist violence in recent years, including suicide bombings in 2021 and 2022 linked to an Islamic State-inspired group, religious extremism has been on a decline since a spate of high-profile attacks two decades ago that included the 2002 Bali bombing, which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians. Indonesia's president of 10 years, Joko Widodo, thanked Francis for his calls for a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza war.

(With inputs from agencies.)