'A blessing for the Indonesian nation' - Cardinal Suharyo on Pope's visit

By Cardinal Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo

From September 3 to 6, Pope Francis will be in Jakarta, during his Apostolic Visit to four countries including Indonesia.

It is not only Catholics who enthusiastically welcome the Pope’s visit, but also sisters and brothers from other faith communities.

Even before the Government of Indonesia and the Bishops’ Conference of Indonesia announced the Pope’s visit, the Grand Imam of the Istiqlal Mosque — meaning freedom or independence — had already delivered it in advance at the Joint Iftar meeting in Ramadhan this year, which was held at the Cathedral Church complex.

The location of the Cathedral Church with the neighbouring Istiqlal Mosque is a symbol of the ideal of a harmonious life in Indonesia, which has different religious, cultural, ethnic, and historical backgrounds.

We are indeed very grateful for the visit of Pope Francis. As Head of State of the Vatican, the Pope will begin his visit by meeting with the President of the Republic of Indonesia, the Ambassadors of friendly countries, and ministers in the current government.

The Pope will also meet with members of the Society of Jesus of Indonesia. Next, he will visit the Istiqlal National Mosque, the Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Jakarta, and the Office of the Bishops’ Conference of Indonesia, which had just celebrated its 100th anniversary this year. There the Pope will bless our less fortunate, sick, disabled sisters and brothers.

The highlight of the visit is a Mass with the faithful at the Bung Karno stadium with around 70,000 people. The faithful who cannot attend Mass with the Pope will attend the Mass online in parish churches.

The committee has tried to prepare for the visit of Pope Francis as best as possible so that this visit will be memorable and a blessing for the Indonesian nation in general and Catholics in Indonesia in particular.

Parishioners throughout Indonesia every Sunday have been praying together for the past few months that the Pope will be blessed with adequate health to carry out his Apostolic Visit to four countries located very far from the Vatican.

When Bishop Antonius Subanto Bunyamin, Chairman of the Bishops’ Conference of Indonesia, officially announced the Pope’s visit, I was invited to accompany him. I convey these two messages, among others:

First, the Pope’s visit is indeed very important. What is no less important is to study and deepen his messages and follow his example.

I am very pleased that this invitation has been responded to with the publication of books about Pope Francis. Some publications are translations of books written in foreign languages, some are in the form of summaries of Pope Francis’ teachings, and there are more than five hundred letters written to Pope Francis from various people. The sheer volume of these letters presupposes that whatever conviction is in the hearts of the writers of the letters will have a place in Pope Francis’ heart and be prayed for by Pope Francis.

Indonesia’s Ambassador to the Holy See, Michael Trias Kuncahyono — who is a senior journalist — also wrote an interesting book. The news in the mass media is also crowded. Various seminars were also held to explore, understand, and try to realize the teachings of Pope Francis, which invited speakers from various religious communities.

Second, I also say that many people might be disappointed because they cannot meet or even see Pope Francis in person. Therefore, in the Archdiocese of Jakarta, when Pope Francis celebrates the Eucharist in the Stadium, the churches in the Archdiocese of Jakarta will be open, and the faithful are invited to attend and receive the Eucharist.

The theme set for this visit is formulated in three words: “faith — fraternity — and compassion”. We believe that these three words can be a kind of road map for the dynamics of the development of the Catholic Church in Indonesia and are very relevant in the context of Indonesia.

Catholics are believers—they do not just belong to a religion. Religion can easily be used for political, economic, and other interests.

Faith cannot be used, because it is a personal relationship with God, whose fruit is “to become new creation”. In that dynamic, one of the indicators of true faith is the fruit of fraternity. If there is no fruit in fraternity, faith can be questioned.

Furthermore, the true indicator of fraternity is compassion. If fraternity does not bear fruit in compassion, it must not be a true and sincere fraternity. Compassion will encourage believers to act on the question: what should we do to make our environment more humane—one of the signs of the presence of the Kingdom of God?

Since Pope Francis will only be present in Jakarta, many Indonesian Catholics will join the Pope’s visit to Dili, Timor-Leste, Singapore, and possibly Papua New Guinea. The government will facilitate the plan.