A religious leader in the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation expressed deep condolences for the death of Pope Francis, describing the pontiff as a close friend.
Nasaruddin Umar, Indonesia’s religious affairs minister and the grand imam of Southeast Asia’s largest mosque, said his ministry “and all Indonesian people express our deepest condolences for the passing of Pope Francis,” according to national news agency Antara.
“We cannot forget his service and friendship,” Umar said.
Francis met with Umar last September during a visit to Indonesia, where the pope signed an interfaith declaration of solidarity and visited Jakarta’s grand Istiqlal Mosque, which is linked to the capital’s Catholic cathedral by an underpass known as the “tunnel of friendship.”
In a symbolic moment of interfaith harmony, Umar kissed Francis’ head who in turn kissed the Muslim leader’s hand.
“Hopefully, the cooperation between Indonesia and the Vatican, and the will that Pope Francis has pioneered, can be followed up as agreed,” Umar said today, according to Antara.
Indonesia, a secular state of more than 275 million people with a 90% Muslim majority, is home to about 8 million Catholics, according to the Church-run Vatican News.
Latin American countries declare national days of mourning in honor of Pope Francis
Several Latin American countries have declared days of national mourning in honor of the passing of Pope Francis, the Catholic Church’s first Latin American pontiff.
- Cuba has declared a state of mourning from tomorrow morning to Thursday at noon, during which the national flag will be flown at half-staff, according to the communist-party daily Granma. Francis played a major role in helping to renew diplomatic relations between Cuba and the US in 2014, making personal pleas to then-President Barack Obama and Cuban leaders and hosting both sides for talks at the Vatican.
- Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro declared a three-day mourning period, according to an official government bulletin that referred to Francis as a “friend of the Venezuelan people who represented the greatest values of humanity.”
- Panama and Costa Rica have also declared days of national mourning.
- Argentina, Francis’ home country, declared seven days of mourning.