Jakarta — Pope Francis led the Grand Mass at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium (GBK) on Thursday (5/9), and the event took place solemnly and in a religious atmosphere.
There were tens of thousands of Catholics from all over Indonesia who attended the service. In fact, making it one of the most anticipated spiritual moments in the entire series of Pope Francis’ visits to Indonesia.
The High Mass led by Pope Francis proceeded smoothly and solemnly.
Most of the congregation was at the GBK Main Stadium, the remaining 20 thousand people were at the GBK Madya Stadium, and millions of other Catholics followed online at the Cathedral Church and other Catholic churches.
However, Catholics who attended the Pope’s Mass were not only from Jakarta and its surroundings, but there were also representatives from all Catholic Churches throughout Indonesia.
One of them is at the Church of Saint Anthony of Padua Kotabaru, Yogyakarta. One of the congregation, Stella Maris (33) said that even though she participated online, the moment was still memorable for her.
“Actually, I am more inspired by the figure of Pope Francis himself, in the sense that even though he is very old, he still has high dedication to greet his people in various parts of the world, especially in Indonesia,” he said.
Something similar also happened in Surabaya. According to the Head of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral Parish, Father Cornelius Triwidya Tjahja Utama, the entire congregation was very enthusiastic about attending the mass online.
“So that the people’s longing to be able to celebrate love with the Pope is fulfilled. Because there is an expression of faith that must also be accommodated,” he said.
Likewise, Catholics at the Ijen Cathedral Church, Malang City also solemnly attended the Great Mass.
One of the congregation, Prastyo Wibowo (70) said that he came with his wife and grandchildren, and admitted that this was the first time he had attended mass online together with other Catholics.
“The big screen is also outside, we thought only a few people would come, but it turned out there were a lot of people, at half past 4 a lot of people had already come, even though the event was at half past 4, and the mass was held solemnly,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Central Coordinator of the Indonesian Christian Student Executive Board (BEM KSI), Charles Gilbert, expressed his high appreciation to the TNI and Polri for the security preparations that had been carried out during the Grand Holy Mass event.
Charles Gilbert expressed his gratitude to the TNI and Polri who had made maximum efforts to ensure the security and smooth running of this event.
“We greatly appreciate the dedication and professionalism of the TNI-Polri in preparing security for this Grand Holy Mass event. Their presence provides a sense of security and comfort for all participants who will attend,” said Charles.
In addition, Charles also expressed his hope that good cooperation between the event committee and security forces can continue to be established, especially in maintaining harmony amidst the diversity of the Indonesian nation.
The presence of the highest leader of the Catholic Church at the mass was a strong symbol that peace and love can continue to be maintained, celebrated and realized in real actions by all humanity.