The Sat Report: Pope Francis in Indonesia, a retrospective
As Pope Francis continues his journey in South-East Asia, today in Papua New Guinea, before heading to Singapore and Timor-Leste. This week’s Sat Report is a look back at his time in Indonesia.
After a 13 hour flight from Rome, Pope Francis spent a busy three days in Indonesia, focusing on themes of Faith, Fraternity and Compassion. Our Holy Father received a very warm welcome. My favourite moment of this trip was of Pope Francis riding in the front seat of a white Toyota Innova Zenix Hybrid, handing out rosaries to children out the window on his way to his private meeting with the President of Indonesia, before his first address at the Istana Negara Presidential Palace Hall.
In his first major address in Indonesia, at a meeting with the authorities, civil society and the diplomatic corps, Pope Francis lamented the growing threats to his vision of fraternity as outline in Fratelli Tutti;
“Unfortunately, however, we see in today’s world certain tendencies that hinder the development of universal fraternity. In various regions we see the emergence of violent conflicts, which are often the result of a lack of mutual respect, of the intolerant desire to let one’s own interests, one’s own position, or one’s own partial historical narrative prevail at all costs, even when this leads to endless suffering for entire communities and results in wars and much bloodshed. Sometimes violent tensions arise within countries because those in power want to make everything uniform, imposing their vision even in matters that should be left to the autonomy of individuals or groups.”
The reception of Fratelli Tutti in the Muslim world has been patchy at best, and if the truth be told largely ignored despite Pope Francis’ warm outreach to various Grand Imams and the signing of numerous joint declarations. The reception of Fratelli Tutti in the Muslim world will be the topic of a future Sat Report, as an extract from my book on this Pontificate.
Pope Francis also briefly touched one of the major temporal topics that mark his Pontificate, that of low birth rates in western countries. He began by denouncing the lack of implementation of the principles of social justice;
“despite impressive declarations of policy, there is also a lack of true and forward-looking commitment to implement the principles of social justice. As a result, a considerable part of humanity is left on the margins, without the means for a dignified existence and no defence against the serious and growing social imbalances that trigger acute conflicts.”
Before Pope Francis in his typical rhetorical fashion continued;
“How is this often resolved? With a law of death, that is by limiting births, limiting the greatest richness that a nation can have, its births. Your country, meanwhile, has families with three, four, and five children. This is seen in the average age of the nation. Keep going like this. It is an example for all countries. It may seem funny that perhaps some families prefer to have a cat or a small dog, and not a child, but this is not right.”
Now of course this isn’t the first time that Pope Francis has said some people prefer having pets to children, for which he has drawn the ire of progressives. What made this moment in Indonesia a little different was having President Joko Widodo burst into laughter at the remark, with the Pope turning to him in classic Francis fashion saying “you know it’s true, isn’t it”.
This issue resurfaced in the US Presidential race, when an old video emerged of JD Vance, Donald Trump’s running mate, labelling some high-profile Democrats as “childless cat ladies.” I’ve been reading Hillbilly Elegy, and I see many parallels between Vance’s economic thought and that of Pope Francis. We can add childless cat ladies to the category where they share similar opinions. Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019 can rightly be described as part of the Francis generation, though on abortion and migration he has been on record dissenting from Catholic teaching. He has been given a tremendous platform, may he use it for good.
The Sin of Proselytism
The next major speech that Pope Francis delivered in Indonesia was to the bishops, priests, nuns, and catechists in the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Jakarta.
The Holy Father who through his Pontificate has made his innate dislike for proselytism well known, though what he exactly means by that term is still debated, again sounded a similar refrain:
“proclaiming the Gospel does not mean imposing our faith, placing it in opposition to that of others, or proselytizing, it means giving and sharing the joy of encountering Christ (cf. 1 Pet 3:15-17), always with great respect and fraternal affection for everyone.”
The Holy Father also denounced greed and corruption, by recounting a personal anecdote from his time in Argentina;
“I sadly remember a very rich person in Buenos Aires, who had a habit of taking, and taking, more and more money. He died and left a huge inheritance. People joked around saying, “Poor guy, they couldn’t close the coffin!” He wanted to take everything but he took nothing. It might make us laugh, but don’t forget that the devil comes in through the pockets, always! Holding onto riches as security is an incorrect way of looking at reality. What keeps the world going is not the calculations of self-interest, which generally end up destroying creation and dividing communities, but offering charity to others.”
The line of the devil comes in through the pockets, led to a cheer from those gathered in the Cathedral. The Pope also repeated the phrase “todos, todos”, which in the latter part of his Pontificate, especially since the publication of Traditionis custodes, has become a somewhat trademark catchphrase.
“I think of the many islands here, so many islands, and the Lord says to the good people, to you, “everybody, everybody”. Indeed, the Lord says, “good and bad,” everyone! I, too, renew this exhortation and encourage you to continue your mission, strong in faith, open to all in fraternity and close to others in compassion.”
Fostering religious harmony for the sake of humanity
Pope Francis addressed an Interreligious Meeting in the Istiqlal Mosque, the largest mosque in Asia, where he also signed a joint declaration with the Grand Imam, entitled “Fostering religious harmony for the sake of humanity.” This was the most highly anticipated of the Pope’s speeches in Indonesia, because although freedom of religion is enshrined in the Indonesian Constitution, but as Saddam Husein Pareto, an Indonesian Catholic who went viral during the Pope’s visit, put it: “We live a happy Catholic life in Indonesia, but there is sometimes discrimination when we go out to Mass and go to pray,”
The Pope focussed his address on the ‘tunnel of friendship’, an underground walkway that links the Istiqlal Mosque to the Cathedral of the Assumption. Various tunnel metaphors were employed in the speech to varying levels of success. One of the more resonant was;
“The tunnel was built in order to create a link between two different and distant places. This is what the tunnel does: it connects, creating a bond. Sometimes we think that a meeting between religions is a matter of seeking common ground between different religious doctrines and beliefs no matter the cost.”
The Pope however warned against this kind of syncretism, by adding;
“Such an approach, however, may end up dividing us, because the doctrines and dogmas of each religious experience are different. What really brings us closer is creating a connection in the midst of diversity, cultivating bonds of friendship, care and reciprocity.”
The previous day, Pope Francis addressed Scolas Occurrentes Indonesia, an International Organisation of Pontifical Right, begun by Pope Francis, which seeks “to answer the call to create a culture of encounter and bring young people together in an education that generates meaning." An awkward blessing at the end drew criticism from some quarters, though again this is nothing new, and is something that Pope Francis has done since the second day of his Pontificate, when he addressed the Vatican Press Corps, and didn’t want to offend the sensibilities of those who are not Catholic and declined to impart his Apostolic Blessing on the Catholics that were present.
Always dare to dream of fraternity!
The high point of the Pope’s visit to Indonesia was undoubtedly the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass celebrated by His Eminence Ignatius Cardinal Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo, the Archbishop of Jakarta, in the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, assisted by over 100,000 faithful, on the Feast of St. Teresa of Calcutta.
Pope Francis used his homily to focus on two themes; listening to word, and living the word. On the former the Pope offered some beautiful things for us all to meditate on, I was especially moved by these;
“We always need a light from on high to illuminate our steps, living water that can quench the thirst of the deserts of the soul, consolation that does not disappoint because it comes from heaven and not from the fleeting things of this world. In the midst of the confusion and vanity of human words, brothers and sisters, there is need for the word of God, the only true compass for our journey, which alone is capable of leading us back to the true meaning of life amid so much woundedness and confusion.”
The Pope warned against an outwardly perfect religiosity and the desire to do the extraordinary;
“Brothers and sisters, let us not forget that the first task of the disciple – and we are all disciples! – is not to clothe ourselves with an outwardly perfect religiosity, do extraordinary things or engage in grandiose undertakings. No, the first task, the first step, instead, is to know how to listen to the only word that saves, the word of Jesus.”
The Pope concluded his mediation on living the word by appealing to fraternity;
“Brothers and sisters, I would also like to say to you, to this nation, to this wonderful and varied archipelago, do not grow weary of setting sail, do not grow weary of casting your nets, do not grow weary of dreaming, do not grow weary of building again a civilization of peace.”
The Holy Father continued;
“Always dare to dream of fraternity, which is a real treasure among you. Guided by the word of the Lord, I encourage you to sow seeds of love, confidently tread the path of dialogue, continue to show your goodness and kindness with your characteristic smile. Have you been told that you are a smiling people? Please, do not lose your smile, and keep moving forward! And be builders of peace. Be builders of hope!”
A Church of the Peripheries
I loath to speak of a potential upcoming conclaves. A general rule I follow is that when the See of Rome is not vacant, speculation is futile. However, this visit to Indonesia, the most populous Muslim nation in the world, did make me wonder what the Church would be like under the leadership of someone from a country where Catholicism is a small minority, or where the Church is under active persecution. How would his perspective affect his governance of the Universal Church?
An interesting thought experiment, if utterly futile. The Pope has named dozens of Cardinals from the peripheries, from countries with only a very small Catholic population, and of course there are Cardinals, appointed by Pope Francis and otherwise, who are from places where our brother and sisters suffer persecution for their faith in Our Lord Jesus Christ, so this hypothetical situation is not as farfetched as it once was.
To answer my own question, I posit that it would change the regime of complacency, as I see it, that has plagued the Church since the Council. Yes complacency, what is often referred to as the Conciliar optimism of the 60’s and 70’s, has always looked to me as complacency, and I firmly believe that it is this complacency that is at the root of all the problems that has afflicted the Church in the intervening decades. It is complacency that continues to prevent the Church from getting a grip with the sin and great evil in her own bosom, that of clerical sexual abuse.