JAKARTA: Pope Francis said today interreligious ties must be “strengthened” to fight extremism and intolerance, as he kicked off his Asia-Pacific tour with a stop in Muslim-majority Indonesia.
Interfaith dialogue is “indispensable to confront common challenges, including that of countering extremism and intolerance,” he said in a speech after meeting President Joko Widodo.
The head of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics is on a three-day visit to Indonesia, the first stop in a 12-day trip that will take in Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore.
“In order to foster a peaceful and fruitful harmony that ensures peace... the Church desires to increase interreligious dialogue,” he told officials at the presidential palace in Jakarta.
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The attacks were the deadliest in Indonesian history and led to a crackdown on militancy.
Security was stepped up, with roads around key sites where the pope is scheduled to visit re-routed or closed.
The speech was one of the first events in a packed schedule in the Indonesian capital, including an address at the city’s cathedral later in the day and a mass at the 80,000-seater national football stadium tomorrow. — AFP
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