The death of Pope Francis has prompted an outpouring of grief in Indonesia, where Catholics and non-Catholics alike remember the late pontiff’s message of compassion, humility and interfaith unity in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation.
The 88-year-old head of the Catholic Church, who died on Monday of a stroke and subsequent heart failure, had been warmly received during a landmark visit to Indonesia in September last year – the first papal visit in more than three decades.
Father James Damanik, a priest at the Immaculate Conception of Mary Cathedral in the city of Medan in Indonesia, told This Week in Asia that the pope’s popularity in the country had been demonstrated by the outpouring of support on Indonesian social media that he had seen following the news of the pope’s passing.
“Everyone was posting about it on their status and stories. Every time people talked about him, they were so warm,” he said. “Even though Indonesia is a Muslim-majority nation and people think that Indonesia is anti-Christian, it was on all the news channels. Of course, we were very sad.”
Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto, who is Muslim, shared in a post on X: “With the deepest sorrow, I learned the news of the passing of His Holiness Pope Francis. The world has lost a remarkable figure whose unwavering commitment to peace, humanity, and fraternity inspired many.”
