‘Imposing your religion on others…’, what did Pope Francis say in the country with the largest Muslim population?

Pope Francis has advised Indonesia, the country with the largest Muslim population, against religious extremism. Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church of Christianity, asked the leaders of Indonesia to save people from religious extremism. He said that religious extremism has changed people’s beliefs through deception and violence.

Pope Francis is on a 9-day tour of South East Asia where the Christian community is a minority. This is the first time that the Pope has visited South East Asia for such a long time. During his tour, he asked the local Catholic Christians not to impose their religion on others.

In a speech to Indonesian leaders, the Pope said the Catholic Church would increase its support for dialogue between different religions to help prevent religious extremism.

In his speech at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta, the 87-year-old Pope said, “In this way we can eliminate prejudices and develop an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust. This is necessary to face common challenges like religious extremism and intolerance. These challenges try to change religion and impose their views by using deception and violence.”

How many Muslims are there in Indonesia?

Indonesia has a population of 28 crores out of which 87% people are from the Muslim community. Despite the majority of Muslims, Indonesia is not an Islamic country, rather its constitution talks about the freedom to follow all religions.

Indonesia witnessed major incidents of Islamic violence two decades ago. In 2002, there was a bombing in Bali in which 202 people, including 88 Australians, were killed. However, religious extremism has declined to a great extent since then. In 2021 and 2022, an organization affiliated with the Islamic State carried out suicide bombings in Indonesia.

What did the President of Indonesia say to the Pope?

During his meeting with the Pope, Indonesian President Joko Widodo thanked Francis for calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza war.

In his welcome speech to Pope Francis, Widodo said: “Indonesia appreciates the stance of the Vatican which has continued to raise its voice for peace.”

The Pope is suffering from knee and back pain due to which he reached Rashtrapati Bhavan in a wheelchair. In his speech, the Pope did not mention any specific violent incident but talked about extremism, intolerance and conversion.

“There are times when faith in God… is unfortunately turned into a means to promote division and hatred instead of promoting peace, unity, dialogue, respect, cooperation and brotherhood,” he said.

Describing the conversation between the Pope and Joko Widodo, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said the two did not specifically talk about the Gaza war during their meeting. They discussed ongoing conflicts in the world and the need for peace.

‘Imposing your religion on others…’

After giving a speech at the Presidential Palace, Pope Francis met the local Catholics of the Church of Jakarta. During this, he said that following the teachings of the Church does not mean at all imposing one’s religion on others or making it anti-others.

The Pope will on Thursday attend an inter-religious meeting at Jakarta’s Istiqlal Mosque, Southeast Asia’s largest mosque.

The Pope will leave Indonesia on Friday and will then travel to Papua New Guinea, then East Timor and Singapore. He will return to Rome on September 13.