By Stanley Widianto
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Pope Francis’s death has elicited an outpouring of grief in Indonesia, with tributes in the world’s largest Muslim-majority country praising the pontiff’s commitment to interfaith harmony and his stance on Israel’s military offensive in Gaza.
Prominent Islamic groups in Indonesia, where around 90% of the 280 million population is Muslim, and the general public praised the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in public statements and social media posts.
“His demands to stop the (Gaza) genocide, his ideas on peace, and his great desire for human fraternity – they are all in line with the council’s values,” said Sudarnoto Abdul Hakim, an official at Indonesia’s highest council of clerics.
In his last Easter Sunday message, a day before he died after suffering a stroke, Francis, 88, reiterated his call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
Francis had been ramping up criticism of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, calling the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave “very serious and shameful” in January.
Nahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia’s largest Islamic organisation of roughly 40 million members, considered to be one of the largest in the world, sent its condolences.
“Pope Francis was tireless in his efforts to turn the Catholic church into the caretaker and defender of humanity,” chairman Yahya Cholil Staquf said.
Muhammadiyah, Indonesia’s second-largest Muslim group, also joined the chorus of grief.
“I hope the inspiration and steps that Pope Francis has taken for humanity and peace can become a push for massive global peace and order,” chairman Haedar Nashir said in a statement.
Francis arrived in Jakarta last year with a message of interfaith harmony, telling Indonesia’s political leaders that the Catholic Church would increase its efforts toward inter-religious dialogue in hopes of helping tamp down extremism.
The message is consistent with Francis’ stance, having said equating Islam with violence was wrong in 2014.
Muhammad, a 20-year-old Muslim university student, who visited Jakarta’s Cathedral on Tuesday to pay his respects, said Francis always brought a message of harmony, despite the occasional inter-religious friction.
“With his presence, we can take the example that we should be tolerant, with Indonesia being a diverse country,” he said.
There was an outpouring by Indonesian social media users, too, with “Paus Fransiskus” – as Francis is referred to in Indonesian – trending in the country on social media platform X.
Instagram user @sarasaure wrote hearing the pope say Islamic greeting “Assalamualaikum”, or peace be upon you, made her teary.
“He stood by Palestine until the very end. This is what real faith should look like – borderless compassion for humanity, for the oppressed”.
(Additional reporting by Johan Purnomo and Gayatri Suroyo; Editing by Gibran Peshimam and Saad Sayeed)
