Pope Francis Highlights World Violence Conflicts Due To Intolerance

Pope Francis arrived at the Jakarta Presidential Palace (Indonesia Papal Visit Committee)

JAKARTA - Pope Francis highlighted the emergence of conflicts in various parts of the world that hinder the development of universal brotherhood. This conflict, according to the Pope, occurs due to intolerance.

This was conveyed by the Pope in his speech while visiting the Jakarta Presidential Palace. The Pope was welcomed by President Joko Widodo and other high-ranking officials.

"In various regions we have witnessed the emergence of violent conflicts, which are often due to a lack of mutual respect, and from the desire of intolerance to impose its own interests, position and historically one-sided narratives with all efforts," explained the Pope, Wednesday, September 4.

"Even if this brings endless suffering to the entire community and leads to war and a lot of bloodshed," he continued.

According to him, sometimes tensions with violent elements arise within countries because the authorities want to uniform everything by imposing their vision. This forcing is even done on things that should be left to individual autonomy or related groups.

"As a result, most of mankind are marginalized, without the means to live a dignified life and without protection from serious social inequality and growth, which triggers severe conflict," the Pope said.

On the one hand, the Vatican Head of State revealed the meaning of Bhinneka Tunggal Ika which is the motto of the Indonesian nation. literally, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika means "different but still one jua". The Pope interprets more than that.

"This motto also shows that, like the biodiversity in this island nation, it is a source of wealth and beauty, as well as your differences specifically contribute to the formation of a very large mosaic, where each ceramic is an irreplaceable element in creating authentic and valuable masterpieces," explained the Pope.

For the Pope, harmony within differences is achieved when certain perspectives consider the common needs of everyone. Harmony is also obtained if every ethnic group and religious denomination acts in the spirit of brotherhood while pursuing noble goals by serving the common good.

"Awareness to participate in shared history, in which solidarity is an element of hakiki and everyone contributes, helping to identify the right solutions, to avoid annoyance that arises from differences and to change resistance to effective cooperation," he added.