Pope Francis, 87, flew to Indonesia yesterday on the first leg of an ambitious four-nation tour, with inter-faith ties set to dominate his visit to the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country.
The pontiff was due to land in Jakarta today, the first stop in a 12-day voyage that will also take in Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore. Covering 32 000km, the tour – the longest and farthest of his 11 years leading the Catholic Church – will test Francis’s increasingly fragile health.
Catholics represent fewer than 3% of the population of Indonesia – about 8 million people, compared to the 87%, or 242 million, who are Muslim.
But they are one of six officially recognised religions or denominations in the secular nation, also including Protestantism, Buddhism, Hinduism and…
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Cape Times (Digital) - 1 Issue, 2024-09-03