Jakarta – Pope Francis invites all people in Indonesia to maintain tolerance between religious communities and peace so that God’s love continues to flow to all people in Indonesia.
This was conveyed by Pope Francis in front of more than 86 thousand Catholics who were present at the Main Stadium and the Bung Karno Madya Stadium who attended the Grand Mass.
Tens of thousands of Catholics from various regions have filled the Gelora Bung Karno (GBK) stadium ahead of the Holy Mass with Pope Francis on Thursday (5/9).
Catholics from the islands of Sumatra, Java, Bali, and Papua filled the GBK stands wearing bright, colorful clothing.
They solemnly followed the event since 12.00 WIB. The Grand Mass itself began at 17.00 WIB.
Pope Francis led the Holy Mass at GBK by first greeting the Catholics spread across two stadiums, namely the Madya Stadium and the Utama Stadium. The Pope toured the stadium using a Maung MV3 car made by Pindad.
Pope Francis said peace in Indonesia is very important because Indonesia is a diverse country. The Pope also admired the tolerance between religious communities in Indonesia.
Meanwhile, Spokesperson for the Committee for Pope Francis’ Visit to Indonesia, Father Thomas Ulun Ismoyo, said that the Pope’s mission of peace was not only for Indonesia but also for the world considering the still high tensions in Ukraine and Russia.
“Let us all religious people respect each other and maintain peace, including peace in the world,” he said.
“We must all be able to restrain ourselves so that there are no more clashes or prolonged wars in this part of the world,” he added.
Thomas explained that the grand mass was held in two stadiums, namely the GBK Main Stadium with a capacity of 60 thousand congregants and the Madya Stadium which can accommodate 26 thousand congregants.
Pope Francis led the Mass at the GBK Stadium in Jakarta, attended by 86,000 Catholics from all over Indonesia. There were 470 priests serving as communion providers at the GBK Main Stadium and 232 priests for the congregation at the GBK Madya Stadium.
“The mass lasted for an hour and a half with 86 thousand people,” said the spokesman for the Committee for Pope Francis’ Visit to Indonesia, Father Thomas Ulun Ismoyo.
“In the joint prayer, the message was how we continue to spread the goodness of God’s love to many people in the place where we are, namely in Indonesia,” said Thomas.
The Social Communication Commission (Komsos) of the Indonesian Bishops’ Conference (KWI) has previously stated that Catholics can attend the celebration of Holy Mass with Pope Francis at GBK by using a wristband ticket.
Those who do not have a wristband ticket can follow the Holy Mass via live broadcast on a number of Komsos KWI social media channels and national TV broadcasts.
This Holy Mass activity is part of Pope Francis’ apostolic visit to the Republic of Indonesia (RI) from 3-6 September 2024.