Jakarta – The Supreme Leader of the Catholic Church in the World, Pope Francis has arrived at the Merdeka State Palace in Jakarta to meet with President Joko Widodo (Jokowi). Pope Francis arrived at around 09.35 WIB, using an Innova Zennix car with the plate SCV 1. President Jokowi welcomed Pope Francis. then greeted and shook hands with the Pope.
In his speech, Jokowi said that Indonesia warmly and happily welcomes the arrival of His Holiness the Holy Father the Pope. Jokowi also thanked Pope Francis for coming to Indonesia.
“Our country, Indonesia, warmly and happily welcomes the arrival of Pope Francis. Thank you, Holy Father, for being willing to accept our invitation to visit Indonesia,” said President Jokowi at the State Palace, Wednesday (4/9).
Jokowi added that the Pope’s visit had a very strong message about the importance of celebrating differences. Where Indonesia as a pluralistic country consisting of various ethnicities, tribes, cultures, and religions, continues to strive to maintain harmony amidst the diversity that we have.
“For Indonesia, differences are a gift and tolerance is the fertilizer for unity and peace as a nation. Where Indonesia is very fortunate to have Pancasila and Bhinneka Tunggal Ika so that they can live in harmony side by side,” said Jokowi.
Also attending the event were Vice President Ma’ruf Amin, President-elect Prabowo Subianto, Minister of State Secretary Pratikno, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Panjaitan, Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi, Minister of Religious Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, and representatives of the Apostolic Nunciature of the Vatican in Indonesia.
For information, the meeting with Jokowi is part of a series of activities by Pope Francis during his visit to Indonesia. The Pope will temporarily stay in Indonesia until September 6. In addition to state meetings, the Pope will also attend a number of religious activities. One of them is a grand mass at Gelora Bung Karno which will be attended by 80 thousand people.
After meeting with President Jokowi, the Pope held a private meeting with members of the Society of Jesus (SJ) at the Vatican Embassy, Jakarta. The Pope also met with bishops, priests, deacons, consecrated persons, seminarians, and catechists (Holy Father’s Speech), Scholas occurrentes at the Cathedral Church of Santa Maria Assumption, Jakarta Grha Pemuda
