CV NEWS FEED // Pope Francis will visit Indonesia in September, local bishops have confirmed in response to rumors that the trip was a possibility.
On April 8, Cardinal Ignatius Suharyo, archbishop of Jakarta and president of the Indonesian Episcopal Conference, officially announced that the Pope will visit from Sept. 3-6, according to Asia News.
Bishop Antonius Subianto of Bandung also verified the upcoming trip, following the nation’s government finalizing the dates of the visit with the Vatican.
“The announcement follows rumors that have been circulating in the country for weeks,” Asia News reported.
Along with visiting Indonesia in September, the Pope will also briefly stop in Oceania, East Timor, and Singapore.
According to Suharyo’s announcement, Pope Francis was going to visit Indonesia in 2020, but the trip was canceled and rescheduled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Indonesia has had good relations with the Vatican since its independence,” Asia News noted, adding that a former president of Indonesia visited the Vatican three times in the 1950s and 1960s.
The September trip will be the first in-person meeting between the current president of Indonesia Joko Widodo and Pope Francis.
Pope Francis is the third pontiff to ever visit Indonesia. Pope Paul VI traveled to the country in 1970, and Pope John Paul II visited in 1989.
