Beyond religious tolerance: What the Pope’s visit really means for Indonesia

A group of around 20 youths went to the foot of the altar after the Pope’s mass, unfurling banners of protests. The Pope’s safety was not in jeopardy although the protestors reached within thirty meters of the steps to the high altar. Some shouted “Viva Papa!” and “Viva independence!”. The youths were soon beaten by security forces, apparently police in plainclothes. Soon after, about a hundred people started hurling chairs at the police to aid the protestors.

That was 35 years ago, two popes ago, in what was then Indonesian East Timor.

Pope Francis’s arrival in Jakarta on 3 September this year seems very different.

This is the first time a pope has set foot in Indonesia when Soeharto is not president, after papal visits by Paul VI in 1970 and John Paul II in 1989. It marks the beginning of the first leg of the longest apostolic visit in his pontificate thus far. His journey stretches more than 20,000 miles over four countries: Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and, yes, Timor-Leste.

Unsurprisingly, this year’s papal visit has triggered a media frenzy in Indonesia, with most commentators interpreting Pope Francis’s arrival as a marker of religious tolerance amidst Indonesia’s diversity. The Minister of Religious Affairs Yaqut Cholil Quomas said that the Pope’s visit was momentum to “safeguard interfaith dialogue” because “interfaith dialogue is the key to world peace”. A Catholic youth shared his aspiration that the Pope’s coming would “strengthen tolerance among different ethnic groups and religions”. The Minister of Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, was certain that Pope Francis’s visit would increase religious tolerance in Indonesia.

There is, of course, nothing bad about religious tolerance. In fact, it is something that is always promoted in Indonesia as a manifestation of the slogan Bhinneka Tunggal Ika – Unity in Diversity.

But to see Pope Francis’s visit to Indonesia as only about religious tolerance is too reductionist.

Standing up for the poor

It is significant that when Jorge Mario Bergoglio became the pontiff, he chose ‘Francis’ as his papal name. St. Francis of Assisi, his namesake, is the patron saint of the poor. The pope has said that “Saint Francis is the example par excellence of care for the vulnerable and of an integral ecology lived out joyfully and authentically. He is the patron saint of all who study and work in the area of ecology, and he is also much loved by non-Christians. He was particularly concerned for God’s creation and for the poor and outcast.”

In fact, concern for the poor – the “excluded and the forgotten, those without food and clothing” – has been a signature of Pope Francis’s leadership, and he argues that bringing them from the margins to the center, should be a priority, because it is “the key criterion of Christian authenticity”. In Pope Francis’s framework, prioritising the poor in is not limited to charity, but also involves countering “social injustice and environmental damage.”

There is debate about Pope Francis’ stance in many different areas, and criticisms too. But, so far, he has been a pope who very clearly emphasises social justice and environmental sustainability as means of caring for the poor in his messages.

Instead of a sole emphasis on religious tolerance, media coverage of any visit by Pope Francis should also acknowledge social justice and environmental justice, for several reasons.

First, as mentioned, social justice and environmental justice are consistently featured in Pope Francis’s letters and speeches. A case in point is Laudato Si’, one of his hallmark encyclicals. Usually encyclicals are papal letters are addressed to Roman Catholics, but this one was addressed to “every person living on this planet” to care for the earth as “our common home.”

Published in 2015, the encyclical makes clear that there should be a concerted effort to address environmental challenges for the future of the planet, and that effort should be in line with social justice. For example, Laudato Si’ states that forced eviction is not a solution to any urban problem. Pope Francis wrote that if relocation is unavoidable, “the people directly involved must be part of the process”.

Pope Francis’s emphasis on social and environmental justice is particularly important in the context of Indonesia. Agrarian conflicts still occur in many places in the country, resulting in forced evictions in cities and villages. Even the much-hyped new capital city “Nusantara” project has involved practices of intimidation and violence in the process of land  acquisition, as The  Conversation Indonesia, together with Sajogyo Institute and Aliansi Masyarakat Adat Nusantara (AMAN), have reported.

Second, a sole emphasis on “religious tolerance” in Pope Francis’s visit can drown out the bigger picture of what Pope Francis has consistently stood for. Religious tolerance is a part of social justice, and social justice is a bigger umbrella that also includes prioritising the poor. Highlighting only religious tolerance can push aside the real needs of those in poverty, particularly in Indonesia, where evictions are commonplace.

Third, Pope Francis’ attention to these shared concerns and to the Earth as our common home are also calls for different groups in society to come together, without having to be directed to merely  “tolerate” each other. In fact, collaborating across religions and ethnic groups to address these common concerns of the world would be a meaningful interfaith initiative.

Urban inequality

Social justice and environmental justice issues in Indonesia and across Southeast Asia are inseparable from rapid urbanisation in the region. Many cities suffer from social issues and environmental degradation as results of problematic over-development, which Pope Francis acknowledged in his encyclicals.

Nevertheless, the Pope suggested that diversity is the strengths of cities. Cities “ … are multicultural; in the larger cities, a connective network is found in which groups of people share a common imagination and dreams about life, and new human interactions arise, new cultures, invisible cities“. The Pope also imagined a better future for cities: “How beautiful those cities which overcome paralyzing mistrust, integrate those who are different and make this very integration a new factor of development! How attractive are those cities which, even in their architectural design, are full of spaces which connect, relate and favour the recognition of others!”.

For Pope Francis, what divides societies is not diversity, but rather exploitation by the global economy. In Fratelli Tutti, an encyclical published in 2020, he laments that the economic and financial sector had co-opted the expression “opening up to the world” to exclusively refer to “openness to foreign interests or to the freedom of economic powers to invest without obstacles or complications in all countries. Local conflicts and disregard for the common good are exploited by the global economy in order to impose a single cultural model. This culture unifies the world, but divides persons and nations.”

The power of civil society

Finally, Pope Francis believes that civil society has vital role in voicing concerns about social justice and environmental justice. “In many parts of the world, cities are the scene of mass protests where thousands of people call for freedom, a voice in public life, justice and a variety of other demands which, if not properly understood, will not be silenced by force”.

This reminds us of the events with which this article opened: a youth protest in Dili 35 years ago after a Mass in which Pope John Paul II called for East Timorese to be the “salt” and “light” of the earth. That protest revealed that the situation in East Timor was not fine. It was a significant moment, as the Pope’s visit opened access to international media. The momentum created by the visit played a significant part in the events that eventually led to Timor-Leste’s independence referendum.

The context of Pope Francis’s visit to Indonesia in 2024 is, of course, different from the previous papal visits, and the Pope himself is different to his predecessors, not least because he is a consistent and unabashed advocate for social and environmental justice. The values that he represents extend beyond the boundaries of established religions.

That is why Pope Francis’s visit can be a moment of reflection for everyone, regardless of their faith: is everything fine in Indonesia? Are social injustices and environmental injustices still rife? If so, how can Pope Francis’s teachings affect our understanding of the situation and the necessary steps to address it?