Pope Francis’ Indonesia visit to connect mosques & cathedrals via ‘Tunnel of Friendship’

Francis will visit the Istiqlal mosque, and the ‘Tunnel of Friendship’ connecting it to the Our Lady of the Assumption cathedral

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A welcoming signboard for Pope Francis is seen installed at the Jakarta Cathedral. Photo: AFP

Published: 10:10am, 1 Sep 2024Updated: 11:49am, 5 Sep 2024

When Pope Francis visits Indonesia next week, he will stop by a mosque in Jakarta that has an unusual feature – a tunnel connecting it to the city’s Catholic cathedral, as part of a push for interfaith harmony on his 12-day Asia-Pacific tour.

The 28.3-metre “Tunnel of Friendship”, connecting the iconic Istiqlal mosque to the Our Lady of the Assumption cathedral, was built by the government in 2020 as a symbol of religious harmony, a theme the global head of the Catholic Church has also emphasised on his travels during his 11-year reign.

Pope Francis, 87, arrives on Tuesday in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country, on the first leg of the longest trip of his papacy that will also take him to Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Singapore. The plans have drawn concerns over his increasing health problems.

The pope is scheduled to participate in an interfaith meeting at the mosque, the largest in Southeast Asia, and to visit the tunnel, which features windows to let in light and inscribed art on the walls but is not yet open to the public.

“It’s extraordinary that the Catholics’ number one figure is coming,” said Nasaruddin Umar, the grand imam of the Istiqlal, whose vast car park is often open to church-goers during major events. “Whatever your religion is, let’s respect our guest.”

Only about 3 per cent of Indonesia’s population of 280 million are Catholic, while nearly 90 per cent are Muslim.