Pope Francis Urges Religious Harmony in Indonesia Visit

Pope Francis was greeted by crowds waving small Vatican and Indonesian flags as his car arrived at Jakarta’s Merdeka Presidential Palace.

The pontiff, who suffers from knee and back pain, was seated in a wheelchair as he left his car, and met Indonesian President Joko Widodo outside the building.

The two leaders were saluted by an honor guard playing the Indonesian and Vatican anthems, before heading inside for a private meeting.

Pope Francis met with a group of refugees, orphans, and the homeless at the Apostolic Nunciature in Jakarta after he landed in the Indonesian capital.

The gathering included Rohingya refugees with the Jesuit Refugee Service, orphaned children raised by Dominican nuns, the elderly, and homeless persons with the Community of Sant'Egidio, a Catholic association in Indonesia.

Pope Francis urged political leaders in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, to guard against religious extremism, which he said distorted people's religious beliefs through "deception and violence".

In his first speech during an ambitious 12-day journey across Southeast Asia, where Christians are broadly a small minority of the regional population, the pontiff said the Catholic Church would increase its efforts toward inter-religious dialogue in hopes of helping tamp down extremism.

"In this way, prejudices can be eliminated, and a climate of mutual respect and trust can grow," the 87-year-old pope said in an address to some 300 politicians and religious leaders at Jakarta's Merdeka Presidential Palace.

Indonesia has about 280 million people and is estimated to be about 87% Muslim. Freedom of religion is guaranteed in the country's constitution, something the pope referenced in his remarks.

Francis' speech came on his first working day of the trip to Southeast Asia and the Pacific, which will also include stops in Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore.