Pope Francis wrapped up his go to to Indonesia on Friday after celebrating Mass earlier than an overflow crowd of 100,000, a last celebration earlier than heading to Papua New Guinea for the second leg of his 11-day journey by way of Southeast Asia and Oceania. The 87-year-old pope had no official occasions Friday past a farewell ceremony and the six-hour flight to Port Moresby, giving him one thing of a break after a packed three-day program in Jakarta.
The go to culminated with a jubilant Mass on Thursday afternoon earlier than a crowd that crammed two sports activities stadiums and overflowed right into a car parking zone.
“Do not tire of dreaming and of constructing a civilization of peace,” Francis urged them in an ad-libbed homily. “Be builders of hope. Be builders of peace.”
The Vatican had initially anticipated the Mass would draw some 60,000 folks, and Indonesian authorities had predicted 80,000. However the Vatican spokesman quoted native organizers as saying greater than 100,000 had attended.
“I really feel very fortunate in comparison with different individuals who cannot come right here and even had the intention to return right here,” stated Vienna Frances Florensius Basol, who got here together with her husband and a bunch of 40 folks from Sabah, Malaysia, however could not get into the stadium.
“Although we’re exterior with different Indonesians, seeing the display screen, I feel I’m fortunate sufficient,” she stated from a car parking zone the place a large TV display screen was erected for anybody who did not have tickets for the service.
Whereas in Indonesia, Francis sought to encourage the nation’s 8.9 million Catholics, who make up simply 3% of the inhabitants of 275 million, whereas additionally in search of to spice up interfaith ties with the nation boasting the world’s largest Muslim inhabitants.
Within the spotlight of the go to, Francis and the grand imam of Jakarta’s Istiqlal Mosque, Southeast Asia’s largest, signed a joint declaration pledging to work to finish religiously impressed violence and defend the atmosphere.
In Papua New Guinea, Francis’ agenda is aligned with extra of his social justice priorities. The poor, strategically essential South Pacific nation is residence to greater than 10 million folks, most of whom are subsistence farmers.
John Lavu, the choir conductor at St. Charles Luwanga parish within the capital, Port Moresby, stated the go to would assist him develop stronger in his Catholic religion.
“I’ve lived this religion all my life, however the coming of the Holy Father, the top of the church, to Papua New Guinea and to be a witness of his coming to us goes to be essential for me in my life as a Catholic,” he stated on the eve of Francis’ arrival.
Francis can be touring to distant Vanimo to test in on some Catholic missionaries from his native Argentina who’re making an attempt to unfold the Catholic religion to a largely tribal individuals who additionally apply pagan and Indigenous traditions.
The nation, the South Pacific’s most populous after Australia, has greater than 800 Indigenous languages and has been riven by tribal conflicts over land for hundreds of years, with conflicts turning into an increasing number of deadly in latest many years.
Historical past’s first Latin American pope will possible check with the necessity to discover concord amongst tribal teams whereas visiting, the Vatican stated. One other doable theme is the nation’s fragile ecosystem, its wealthy pure sources susceptible to exploitation and the menace posed by local weather change.
The Papua New Guinean authorities has blamed extraordinary rainfall for an enormous landslide in Could that buried a village in Enga province. The federal government stated greater than 2,000 folks have been killed, whereas the United Nations estimated the dying toll at 670.
Francis turns into solely the second pope to go to Papua New Guinea, after St. John Paul II touched down in 1984 throughout one in all his prolonged, globetrotting voyages. Then, John Paul paid tribute to the Catholic missionaries who had already been making an attempt for a century to convey the religion to the nation.
Papua New Guinea, a Commonwealth nation that was a colony of close by Australia till independence in 1975, is the second leg of Francis’ four-nation journey. Within the longest and farthest voyage of his papacy, Francis may even go to East Timor and Singapore earlier than returning to the Vatican on Sept. 13.
The go to culminated with a jubilant Mass on Thursday afternoon earlier than a crowd that crammed two sports activities stadiums and overflowed right into a car parking zone.
“Do not tire of dreaming and of constructing a civilization of peace,” Francis urged them in an ad-libbed homily. “Be builders of hope. Be builders of peace.”
The Vatican had initially anticipated the Mass would draw some 60,000 folks, and Indonesian authorities had predicted 80,000. However the Vatican spokesman quoted native organizers as saying greater than 100,000 had attended.
“I really feel very fortunate in comparison with different individuals who cannot come right here and even had the intention to return right here,” stated Vienna Frances Florensius Basol, who got here together with her husband and a bunch of 40 folks from Sabah, Malaysia, however could not get into the stadium.
“Although we’re exterior with different Indonesians, seeing the display screen, I feel I’m fortunate sufficient,” she stated from a car parking zone the place a large TV display screen was erected for anybody who did not have tickets for the service.
Whereas in Indonesia, Francis sought to encourage the nation’s 8.9 million Catholics, who make up simply 3% of the inhabitants of 275 million, whereas additionally in search of to spice up interfaith ties with the nation boasting the world’s largest Muslim inhabitants.
Within the spotlight of the go to, Francis and the grand imam of Jakarta’s Istiqlal Mosque, Southeast Asia’s largest, signed a joint declaration pledging to work to finish religiously impressed violence and defend the atmosphere.
In Papua New Guinea, Francis’ agenda is aligned with extra of his social justice priorities. The poor, strategically essential South Pacific nation is residence to greater than 10 million folks, most of whom are subsistence farmers.
John Lavu, the choir conductor at St. Charles Luwanga parish within the capital, Port Moresby, stated the go to would assist him develop stronger in his Catholic religion.
“I’ve lived this religion all my life, however the coming of the Holy Father, the top of the church, to Papua New Guinea and to be a witness of his coming to us goes to be essential for me in my life as a Catholic,” he stated on the eve of Francis’ arrival.
Francis can be touring to distant Vanimo to test in on some Catholic missionaries from his native Argentina who’re making an attempt to unfold the Catholic religion to a largely tribal individuals who additionally apply pagan and Indigenous traditions.
The nation, the South Pacific’s most populous after Australia, has greater than 800 Indigenous languages and has been riven by tribal conflicts over land for hundreds of years, with conflicts turning into an increasing number of deadly in latest many years.
Historical past’s first Latin American pope will possible check with the necessity to discover concord amongst tribal teams whereas visiting, the Vatican stated. One other doable theme is the nation’s fragile ecosystem, its wealthy pure sources susceptible to exploitation and the menace posed by local weather change.
The Papua New Guinean authorities has blamed extraordinary rainfall for an enormous landslide in Could that buried a village in Enga province. The federal government stated greater than 2,000 folks have been killed, whereas the United Nations estimated the dying toll at 670.
Francis turns into solely the second pope to go to Papua New Guinea, after St. John Paul II touched down in 1984 throughout one in all his prolonged, globetrotting voyages. Then, John Paul paid tribute to the Catholic missionaries who had already been making an attempt for a century to convey the religion to the nation.
Papua New Guinea, a Commonwealth nation that was a colony of close by Australia till independence in 1975, is the second leg of Francis’ four-nation journey. Within the longest and farthest voyage of his papacy, Francis may even go to East Timor and Singapore earlier than returning to the Vatican on Sept. 13.
