Pope Francis’ trip to Asia and Oceania: A tunnel links the cathedral and mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia

Pope Francis, at 87 years old, embarks today on what will be the longest journey of his Pontificate. For 11 days, he will tour Asia and Oceania stopping in Indonesia, Papua Guinea, East Timor and Singapore.

Your first destination will be Jakarta, capital of Indonesia, the largest Muslim-majority country in the world where more than 200 million people practice Islam.

Therefore, it is expected that during his stay, scheduled until September 6, the Pontiff will focus his speeches on interreligious dialogue, ecumenism and solidarity.

The city of Jakarta is located on the northwest coast of the island of Java, at the mouth of the Ciliwung River. Its origins date back to the 4th century and it became known as the “Queen of the East”.

86% of its 11 million inhabitants, of Islamic religion, live alongside the little more than five hundred thousand Catholics in this city built under the motto “Bhinneka Tunggal Ika” (Unity in diversity), also inscribed on the Indonesian shield.

The “tunnel of friendship”

The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, the main place of Catholic worship in the Indonesian capital and seat of the Archbishop of Jakarta, is located in front of the Istiqlal mosque, the largest in Southeast Asia.

Based on the aforementioned slogan, and to promote religious coexistence, President Joko Widodo ordered the construction of an underground conduit, nicknamed the “tunnel of friendship”, to join both temples and thus facilitate movement from one building to another.

The project was approved in 2020 and will be officially inaugurated next fall. In the rigorous program of this long trip, the Holy Father is scheduled to visit these two symbols of both religions.

On Wednesday, September 4, he will preside over a meeting in the cathedral with bishops, priests, deacons, consecrated persons, seminarians and catechists of the country. For his part, on Thursday the 5th he will travel to the mosque to hold an interreligious meeting.

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption

Since Pope Francis’ trip was announced, a screen was placed inside this temple that showed the countdown with the days remaining until the long-awaited arrival of the Pontiff.

The original church, located in the center of the city, was inaugurated in February 1810 and burned in July 1826, finally collapsing on May 31, 1890.

Construction of the current structure began in 1891 and was designed by Jesuit priest and architect Antonius Dijkmans. It was consecrated and blessed on April 21, 1901 by Bishop Edmundus Sybradus, also a Jesuit and apostolic vicar of Jakarta.

Father Dijkmans, taking into account the seismic nature of the island, built the roof with teak extracted from Indonesian forests and the towers with a mixture of stone and metal.

The main entrance of the church, in neo-Gothic style and with a cross-shaped plan, is located on the west side and presents a sculpture of the Virgin Mary in the center of the main door with the quote in Latin All generations will call me blessed“Everyone will call me Blessed.”

The stained glass window on the façade of the building is adorned with the symbol of the Virgin of the Mystical Rose. Additionally, on the south side, inside the building, there is a statue of the Pieta.

Also inside the cathedral, on the second floor, there is a museum dedicated to the history of the Catholic Church in Indonesia.

La mezquita Istiklal

Istiqlal Mosque is located on Jalan Taman Wijaya Kusuma, also in Central Jakarta, on the northeast corner of Merdeka Square.

It was designed in 1954 by the Christian architect Friedrich Silaban and was opened to the public for the first time by the first Indonesian president Sukarno, on February 22, 1978, after 17 years of construction.

It is the largest mosque in all of Southeast Asia, both in terms of its structure and its capacity, and can accommodate up to 120,000 people. The word Istiqlal comes from Arabic and means “independence”, chosen to commemorate the country’s fight for national independence.

The structure is built on five levels, representing the five pillars of Islam, occupies about nine hectares of land and is clad in East Javanese marble.

Inside, it houses an imposing rectangular prayer room, covered with a red carpet and divided into sections dedicated to women on the right and men on the left.

The great hall also opens onto a large courtyard with individual rectangular prayer spaces, all facing Mecca. To enter the mosque, there are seven entrances to symbolize the “seven heavens” of Islam.