Pope Francis Did Not Come To Thursday's Action Even Though Many Netizens Voiced

Residents took pictures with decorations depicting Pope Francis installed at the Jakarta Cathedral Church, Saturday, August 31, 2024. (ANTARA PHOTO-Sulthony Hasanuddin)

JAKARTA - The Archbishop of Jakarta, Cardinal Ignatius Suharyo, confirmed that Pope Francis was not scheduled to visit Thursday's action during the Apostolic trip to Indonesia. This certainty answers the request of netizens.

"Certainly not (to the Kamisan Action, ed)," said Suharyo to reporters at the Cathedral Church, Jakarta, Wednesday, September 4.

Meanwhile, Pope Francis is only scheduled to have an interfaith dialogue with the Grand Imam of the Istiqlal Mosque on Thursday, September 5. Furthermore, the leader of the Catholics will visit the Indonesian Bishops' Conference (KWI) to meet a number of community groups.

Then, Pope Francis is scheduled to lead the grand mass at Gelora Bung Karno (GBK) in the afternoon.

Meanwhile, netizens were busy sharing posters asking Pope Francis to meet Maria Katarina Sumarsih, the mother of Bernardinus Realino Norma Irmawan. Wawan is an Atma Jaya Jakarta student who was shot dead by the authorities during the Semanggi I Tragedy.

Sumarsih is considered worthy of meeting Pope Francis because he is considered to have followed the principles of justice as a Catholic. "I ask you to meet him to recognize his steadfast beliefs and his tireless defense of human rights," the netizens called.

As previously reported, Indonesia became the first country Pope Francis visited in a series of visits to Asia-Pacific. This is the first Pope's visit since 35 years of Pope John Paul II's visit in 1989.

Pope Francis arrived on Tuesday, September 3. There are a number of state agendas with President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) to Catholic monks and monks.

Furthermore, Pope Francis will lead the grand mass at GBK on September 5. Then, the trip to other countries continued on September 6.