Jakarta, IO – Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and the sovereign head of the Vatican City State, plans to visit Indonesia, confirmed the Foreign Ministry (Kemlu).
Kemlu spokesperson Lalu Muhammad Iqbal said the visit has been planned for a long time. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it had to be cancelled, per Kompas, Wed (20/3).
“Actually, the Pope wanted to visit in 2020, but it was canceled because of the pandemic. Since then, the plan has been on agenda,” said Lalu.
However, he said the exact date has yet to be confirmed, but he expected it to happen soon.
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“Now we are discussing a new date, we hope it can be carried out as soon as possible,” said Iqbal.
Previously, Pope Francis had planned to visit Southeast Asia, and Indonesia in 2020. At that time, President Joko Widodo himself had sent an official letter of invitation to Pope Francis to visit Indonesia. The last visit by a pope was on October 8-12, 1989 when Pope John Paul II visited Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Maumere, Medan and Dili (then still part of Indonesia). (rr)