Talking Indonesia: the papal visit

In early September, Pope Francis visited Indonesia as part of a tour of the region. It was the third papal visit to the country after tours by Pope Paul VI in 1970 and Pope John Paul II in 1989. This trip included Indonesia, Timor Leste, Papua New Guinea and Singapore.

The theme of this visit to the world’s largest Muslim nation was ‘Faith, Fraternity and Compassion’ and appeared to build on an earlier visit to the United Arab Emirates in 2019. On that trip, the Pope and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar co-signed a statement known as the Abu Dhabi document, in which they declared a shared commitment to promote reconciliation, fraternity and with the aim of universal peace. The three-day visit to Jakarta was declared a success by the Vatican and Indonesian observers alike, with the Pope highlighting and praising Indonesia’s commitment to interfaith harmony.

So, what was the aim of this papal tour for the Vatican and the Catholic Church in Indonesia? What were the Pope’s key messages and how was he received? And what lingering influences might this visit have for this minority religion of 9 million people and for Indonesian society more broadly?

In this week’s episode Jemma Purdey chats with Bagus Laksana, the Rector of Sanata Dharma University in Yogyakarta. He is the author of ‘Muslim and Catholic Pilgrimage Practices: Explorations Through Java’ (Routledge, 2016).

In 2024, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Jemma Purdey from the Australia-Indonesia Centre, Tito Ambyo from RMIT, Dr Elisabeth Kramer from the University of New South Wales, and Dr Jacqui Baker from Murdoch University.