Pope Seeks End To Extremism On Asian Tour

Pope Francis on Wednesday appealed for religious unity to counter extremism and intolerance, as the longest tour of the 87-year-old’s papacy got into full swing in Muslim-majority Indonesia.

On the first full day of his four-nation trip to the Asia-Pacific, the pontiff zeroed in on the role all faiths can play on flashpoint security issues.

“To foster a peaceful and fruitful harmony that ensures peace… the Church desires to strengthen interreligious dialogue.

“(Extremists) through the distortion of religion attempt to impose their views by using deception and violence,” the pope said in a speech after meeting President Joko Widodo

The pope also said self-interest was preventing the religious unity he had called for and was driving wars around the world, without referring to a specific one.

“In various regions, we see the emergence of violent conflicts, which are often the results… of the intolerant desire to let one’s interests, one’s position or one’s historical narrative prevail at all costs,” he said.

Widodo echoed the pope’s remarks.

“Freedom and tolerance is what Indonesia, together with the Vatican want, to spread… amid an increasingly turbulent world,” he said.

Indonesia, which is the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, has long struggled with Islamist militancy.

Bombings on the resort island of Bali in 2002 that killed 202 people were the deadliest in Indonesian history and led to a crackdown on militancy.

Catholics represent fewer than three per cent of the population of Indonesia — about eight million people, compared with the 87 per cent, or 242 million, who are Muslim.

But they are one of six officially recognised religions or denominations in the nominally secular nation, including Protestantism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Confucianism.

The trip to Indonesia is the third ever by a pope and the first since John Paul II in 1989.

– Fragile health –

The pope’s fragile health is set to be tested on the trip, which will also take in Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore.

He had not travelled abroad since visiting Marseille in France in September last year.

Accompanying him to Indonesia are his doctor and two nurses, but Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said that was standard procedure.