Pope Francis is old (he turns 88 in December) and frail, but he is pressing ahead with the most ambitious international itinerary of his 11-year reign, visiting Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore from September 2-13.
What is the Pope's motivation for completing the trip, which was originally planned for 2020 but canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic?
First, he is a man of his word. He has declared that he will visit these countries, and for Catholics in particular, papal pilgrimages invigorate the faithful and strengthen the Church's presence there. John Paul II visited all of Francis's Asian destinations (Papua New Guinea twice), but that was 35-40 years ago. It is noteworthy that Francis's Eurocentric predecessor, Benedict XVI, never visited Asia.
Francis also has strong fraternal ties with these countries. As part of his commitment to inclusion, he appointed cardinals from these countries. Cardinals are called “princes of the Church” because they choose the next Pope. It is the first time that cardinals from Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and Singapore have been appointed, meaning that as a religious leader, Francis is paying tribute to his four allies and envoys. Currently, 21 Asian cardinals out of 124 are eligible to vote in the conclave that will choose Francis' successor.
But beyond his religious duties, Francis is also an absolute monarch. He rules over the world's smallest country, Vatican City, which is home to the church's governing body, the Holy See, which has diplomatic relations with 184 countries.
International law recognizes the sovereignty of the Holy See: it has bilateral diplomatic relations, can conclude treaties with other countries, and has permanent observer status at the United Nations.
Former UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld said, “When I seek an audience with the Vatican, I'm not going to see the king of Vatican City, I'm going to see the head of the Catholic Church.”
As head of state, Pope Francis regularly meets with foreign leaders in Rome, including in June with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, whose “respect for all” message during last year's election campaign was quintessentially Francis-esque.
What is most interesting about the Papal visit is the interplay between his diplomatic and religious roles. Wherever he is, the Pope has diplomatic goals that are linked to his own priorities. So what are the priorities that will drive the Papal visit to Asia in the future?
Indonesia: Catholic-Islamic Relations
Indonesia has the world's fourth largest population and the world's tenth largest economy. As a non-aligned country, it has been trying to expand its international influence, with the support of Pope Francis. For example, regarding the Russia-Ukraine war, the Indonesian government has tried to keep talks going between the two parties and their respective supporters. Indonesia also, like Pope Francis, opposes “small groups,” with the Indonesian foreign minister warning that “small groups” “often become part of proxy wars between major powers.” For example, the Australia-UK-US security partnership, AUKUS, has received expressions of concern from both the Holy See and the Indonesian government.
Improving ties with the Muslim world, particularly Sunni Islam, has been a top priority for Francis from the start, and his visit to Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, embodies that goal and has been welcomed by local Muslim leaders who have helped plan it.
Jorge Bergoglio had actively worked with Argentina's Islamic Center as Archbishop of Buenos Aires (1998-2013), but as Pope Francis he inherited a rift. Benedict XVI infuriated the Muslim world in 2006 with a speech that was perceived as insulting to the Prophet Muhammad. Five years later, one of Sunni Islam's most respected leaders, Grand Imam Ahmed al-Tayeb of Al-Azhar, broke off contact with the Vatican over Benedict's comments about the Cairo terrorist attacks.
Eight years later, Francis and Al-Tayeb stood together on a futuristic stage in Abu Dhabi signing a groundbreaking pledge of fraternity between the two world religions, expressing solidarity against religious extremism and the political manipulation of religion. It was the historic first papal visit to the Arabian Peninsula, the heartland of Sunni Islam, and the first public Mass held there. The experience inspired Francis to write an encyclical on human solidarity that makes extensive reference to Al-Tayeb.
This is all part of Francis' “diplomacy of encounter”, characterized by dialogue and gestures of respect, which he will show off in Indonesia. He will attend an interreligious meeting at Jakarta's Istiqlal Mosque, the largest mosque in Southeast Asia. In fact, he is expected to visit the underground tunnels that connect the mosque to the Catholic cathedral across the street, as a symbol of healthy religious coexistence. Catholicism, one of the six recognized religions in Indonesia, has grown over the past 50 years and will have around 8.5 million adherents in 2022.
Papua New Guinea: Climate Change
As a young priest and aspiring religious, Bergoglio dreamed of becoming a missionary. He applied to his Jesuit order for a post in Japan, but was denied the assignment due to health problems. To this day, he urges the Church to be less institutional or inward-looking and more missionary, focusing on the periphery of society, as he put it in The Joy of the Gospel (2013).
The Catholic Church in Papua New Guinea stands out as a “strong and multicultural” Church.
Catholicism came to Papua New Guinea through adventurers such as the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, a Catholic religious organization that has been in existence since the 1870s. Papua New Guinea's Cardinal John Ribat is a priest of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. Today, most people in Papua New Guinea identify as Christian, and the majority of them (about 30 percent, or 3.5 million people) are Catholic.
Prime Minister James Marape has been keen to coordinate the Pope's visit, noting that it comes just before the country's 49th independence anniversary on September 16.
Pope Francis plans to travel to Vanimo and Barro, a remote area on Argentina's northwest coast, to visit a 35-year-old Argentine missionary and friend, despite advice that the detour isn't worth it.
With the country highly vulnerable to climate change, he will be carrying a message of environmental protection, which the Pope made clear in his landmark encyclical Laudato Si’ (Care of Our Common Home, 2015) and has encouraged as a priority for the local Catholic Church.
Because Pope Francis links climate change, corporate exploitation of resources, poverty, and Western indifference to the disproportionate impact of environmental destruction on developing countries, his attention to these issues is sometimes interpreted as being politically left-wing. But because his criticism is rooted in a concern for God's creation, it has a spiritual as well as a diplomatic dimension.
Timor-Leste: Peace and Reconciliation
The first independent country of the 21st century, East Timor is also the country with the highest percentage of Catholics in the world. Interestingly, the growth of the Church in the country is relatively recent: When Indonesia invaded East Timor (then called East Timor) in 1975, only about 20 percent of the population was Catholic. According to the BBC, ten years later that figure had risen to 95 percent, as “people sought refuge in the church.”
The Catholic Church has protected the persecuted and proven to be a reliable source of information on atrocities committed during the Indonesian military occupation from 1975 to 1999. Massacres, enforced disappearances, extrajudicial executions, starvation and rape killed an estimated 170,000 people, roughly 25 percent of the 1975 population.
As a result of Pope John Paul II's visit in 1989, the Church tacitly planted the seeds of national self-identity without advocating violence. Diplomatic relations between the Vatican and Timor-Leste were signed in 2015, and the first cardinals were due to be appointed in 2022.
Pope Francis will preach a diplomacy of peaceful reconciliation in a country that is living witness to this possibility.
Singapore: Multipolarity
Since independence in 1965, Singapore has shared bona fide city-state status with the Vatican (and Monaco), but it has an army whereas the Pope's native Singapore does not. As the only country in Southeast Asia with a Chinese majority, Francis might be expected to appeal to its residents, knowing Beijing's interests. In a recent interview, the Pope reiterated his sincere desire to visit China, which does not currently have diplomatic relations with the Vatican.
Indeed, it is Singapore's determination to remain independent from geopolitical competition that the Pope praises: He supports multipolarity and his preferred image of the world order is one that is multifaceted (sometimes likened to a soccer ball), where national differences strengthen unity and all cultures can flourish without being dominated by any one nation.
Francis believes that “the image of globalization should not be a sphere but a polyhedron, expressing how unity is created while preserving the identity of peoples, individuals and cultures.”
Singapore should also be praised for its commitment to interreligious dialogue: in 1990, Parliament passed the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Bill to prevent religion from being used for political gain, a key priority of the Pope.
After centuries of domination by foreign powers, these four countries are eager to engage and cooperate with an unusual figure: the first pope with a Southern perspective.
