Pope Francis arrives in Indonesia to begin ambitious Asia-Pacific tour
Four-country trip is the pope's longest yet
Francis expected to push case for climate action
Pope to rest on opening day of tour
Pontiff's trip will cover 33,000 km
Releads with arrival, adds departure details; paragraphs 1-10
By Joshua McElwee
JAKARTA, Sept 3 (Reuters) -Dozens of excited Indonesians waved on Tuesday at a motorcade carrying Pope Francis through the capital as he began the first leg of an ambitious Asia-Pacific tour expected to urge global action on climate change as part of his longest trip yet.
The 87-year-old pontiff, who will also visit East Timor, Singapore and Papua New Guinea over the next 10 days, was seated in a wheelchair as a lift disembarked him from a chartered aircraft at Jakarta airport.
Two children in traditional clothes presented a bouquet of local produce before the pope was greeted by Indonesia's religious affairs minister, its Vatican envoy and several of its bishops on a red carpet flanked by honour guards.
Francis then drove off in a waiting car, waving and smiling. As his motorcade passed through Jakarta, small crowds of people were seen waving excitedly.
The ageing pope was not set to attend any public events on Tuesday, to allow him time for rest after the 13-hour overnight flight from Rome.
The pontiff is set to travel nearly 33,000 km (21,000 miles)on the 12 days of the Asia-Pacific tour, before he arrives back in Rome late in the evening of Sept. 13.
At the beginning of his flight to Jakarta, Francis spent roughly half an hour individually greeting the accompanying journalists, leaning on a cane as he walked slowly around the back of the aircraft, chatting and shaking hands.
He offered only a few words about the trip, except for saying the coming days would represent his longest voyage abroad.
DIVINE BLESSINGS
Francis, who is not only the leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics but also the Vatican's head of state, wired customary greetings to every country he crossed on the way to Indonesia, including Iran, India, Pakistan and Turkey.
He offered prayers of peace, hopes for prosperity, or divine blessings, in messages varying with each country.
An address to Indonesia's political leaders on Wednesday will be the pope's first official event. The following day, he will participate in an inter-religious meeting at Southeast Asia's largest mosque, the Istiqlal Mosque.
Francis, who pushed for the 2015 Paris climate pact, is expected to continue voicing appeals to confront the dangers of a warming globe.
Jakarta, the Indonesian capital home to at least 10 million people, is vulnerable to climate change, as it tackles chronic flooding and sinking land. The government is building a new capital, Nusantara, on the island of Borneo.
Just 3% of a population of about 280 million is Catholic in Indonesia, which is the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation.
"This is a very historic visit," Indonesian President Joko Widodo told reporters before the pope's arrival, offering Francis a warm welcome on a long-planned visit that had been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Indonesia and the Vatican have a similar commitment to cultivate peace and brotherhood as well as ensure prosperity for the people."
FACTBOX-The climate threats on Pope Francis' Asia-Pacific itinerary https://tinyurl.com/2cgfz9q4
Reporting by Joshua McElwee; Additional reporting by Willy Kurniawan and Ananda Teresia and Gayatri Suroyo; Editing by Martin Petty and Clarence Fernandez
Dernières actualités
Avertissement : Les entités de XM Group proposent à notre plateforme de trading en ligne un service d'exécution uniquement, autorisant une personne à consulter et/ou à utiliser le contenu disponible sur ou via le site internet, qui n'a pas pour but de modifier ou d'élargir cette situation. De tels accès et utilisation sont toujours soumis aux : (i) Conditions générales ; (ii) Avertissements sur les risques et (iii) Avertissement complet. Un tel contenu n'est par conséquent fourni que pour information générale. En particulier, sachez que les contenus de notre plateforme de trading en ligne ne sont ni une sollicitation ni une offre de participation à toute transaction sur les marchés financiers. Le trading sur les marchés financiers implique un niveau significatif de risques pour votre capital.
Tout le matériel publié dans notre Centre de trading en ligne est destiné à des fins de formation / d'information uniquement et ne contient pas – et ne doit pas être considéré comme contenant – des conseils et recommandations en matière de finance, de fiscalité des investissements ou de trading, ou un enregistrement de nos prix de trading ou une offre, une sollicitation, une transaction à propos de tout instrument financier ou bien des promotions financières non sollicitées à votre égard.
Tout contenu tiers, de même que le contenu préparé par XM, tels que les opinions, actualités, études, analyses, prix, autres informations ou liens vers des sites tiers contenus sur ce site internet sont fournis "tels quels", comme commentaires généraux sur le marché et ne constituent pas des conseils en investissement. Dans la mesure où tout contenu est considéré comme de la recherche en investissement, vous devez noter et accepter que le contenu n'a pas été conçu ni préparé conformément aux exigences légales visant à promouvoir l'indépendance de la recherche en investissement et, en tant que tel, il serait considéré comme une communication marketing selon les lois et réglementations applicables. Veuillez vous assurer que vous avez lu et compris notre Avis sur la recherche en investissement non indépendante et notre avertissement sur les risques concernant les informations susdites, qui peuvent consultés ici.