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Pope Francis sets off for his longest apostolic trip to Asia

According to the report, Pope Francis will begin his journey with a visit to Indonesia, a country with the world’s largest Muslin population who account for 87% of its 270 million residents

ROME, September 2. /TASS/. Pope Francis has set off for his 45th and the longest foreign apostolic journey, the Holy See said.

In the next 12 days, the 87-year-old pontiff will cover a distance of more than 32,000 and visit several countries in Southeast Asia and Oceania.

According to the ANSA news agency, Pope Francis will begin his journey with a visit to Indonesia, a country with the world’s largest Muslin population who account for 87% of its 270 million residents. Three percent of the population are Catholics, and seven more percent are Protestants. His next stopover will be Papua New Guinea, after which he will visit one of the smallest Catholic countries - East Timor, where 98% of the 1.5-million population are Catholics.

In Jakarta, the pope and the grand imam are expected sign a joint document in furtherance of the declaration on Human Fraternity For World Peace and Living Together that was signed by Pope Francis and Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ahmad Al-Tayyeb in Abu Dhabi in 2019.

The trip’s agenda will focus on issues of interreligious dialogue and problems of climate change, with its negative impacts being especially felt in countries of this region. According to RAI News 24, Jakarta is one of the most polluted cities in the world.

The last stopover will be Singapore, a symbol of the global financial world and technologies of the future. Apart from that, Singapore is home to many ethnic Chinese and the pontiff wants to establish closer dialogue with them.

The first-ever apostolic visit to Indonesia was paid by Pope Paul VI (1897-1978) back in 1970. John Paul II visited the four counties in a period from 1984 to 1989. Pope Francis’ destinations in the Eastern Hemisphere included the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Thailand, and Japan. He also visited South Korea on Asian Youth Day.

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