Pope Francis and His Legacy for Interreligious Dialogue in Asia

Pope Francis and His Legacy for Interreligious Dialogue in Asia

From the Perspective of the Catholic Church

Paulus Budi Kleden, SVD

Bishop of the Archdiocese of Ende

These remarks were delivered by Archbishop Paulus Budi Keleden, SVD at the Online Roundtable hosted by ARC on June 5, 2025

Asia was in the heart of Pope Francis. His last, and longest visit outside Europe was the 12-day journey to four Asian countries: Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste and Singapore in September 2024, just a few months before his death. Though with fragile health condition, Pope Francis was determined to make it possible. This was the fifth visit of the Pontif to Asia. His first visit to Asia was to South Korea in August 2014. Considering the small percentage of the Catholics in this continent: 3.2 percent of the population, or just 12% of the Catholics worldwide, the importance given to this continent is remarkable.

The visits to Asia demonstrate the appeal Pope Francis made since the beginning of his service as leader of the Catholic Church: to "go out to meet the peripheries." The importance of the Catholic Church in Asia is more by the quality of the witness of the Catholics than by their number. Indeed, in Asia, Christians remain very much in the minority. They are often just a drop in the ocean of Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, or Islam. And yet, they are making significant contribution for the development of their countries.

It has been always included in the program of the visits to meet with the religious leaders of different religions. In Sri Lanka Pope Francis made a spontaneous visit to the Mahabodhi temple, a Buddhist temple in Colombo. In Jakarta he and the Grand Imam Nasaruddin Umar went to the tunnel of friendship connecting the Istiqlal Mosque and the Cathedral of Jakarta. On other occasion, Pope Francis offered prayers for the victims of a deadly fire at the Puttingal temple, a Hindu temple in Kerala, India, where at least 100 people were killed and at least 200 more were injured. Such convincing and sympathetic gestures of leader of a minority religious group helps raise awareness of the importance of giving space to the small groups existing in a country.

Important to note, that Pope Francis not only had meetings with the leaders of other religions where the Catholics are in minority. During his visit to the Philippines in January 2015, country with the highest number of Catholics in Asia, Pope Francis made it a point to sit together with the leaders of other religions. Interreligious dialogue does not include only those with big numbers of believers. This is a lesson we receive from Pope Francis.

Pope Francis also made an impact on concrete themes of dialogue. Being a pastor, Pope Francis’ concerns are more pastoral then theological. His appeal to serve the marginalized and to care for the nature enriched the interreligious dialogue. In the Istiqlal declaration signed in Jakarta in September last year, the Grand Imam Nasaruddin Umar and Pope Francis call our attention to the global phenomenon of dehumanization which is marked especially by widespread violence and conflict, and the human exploitation of creation, our common home, that has contributed to natural disasters, global warming and unpredictable weather patterns. Francis’s spirit of dialogue and commitment to social and ecological justice, his leadership grounded in compassion for the vulnerable, "the least" among us were an inspiration and will be a legacy for the religions in Asia.

Thanks to the wide publicity of his visits, his speeches are well communicated to all people. It helps making these themes part of the public awareness of people. Of course, we also need to acknowledge many other people, well known in the world stages, but also the unknown persons in the villages, who are contributing to this raising of awareness of dehumanization and the exploitation of creation and paving ways to address them.

With his gestures and words, Pope Francis has widened our perspective about interreligious dialogue and put before us challenges, we need to continue work on in the future. The name for the future is dialogue, which Pope Francis considered as the way to promote “respect for diversity, commitment to our ‘common home,’ and the promotion of peace.”

The concrete gestures, actions and words of Pope Francis leave for us inspiration to take concrete actions and at the same time to reflect theologically. I want to use the theme of Pope Francis’s visit to Indonesia last year as the frame to formulate the challenges he placed before all of us.

The first is faith. Several times when meeting the religious leaders, Pope Francis used the word: quest. Faith is borne out of the quest of human beings to encounter the divine. In Mongolia Pope Francis begins his speech with these words: “Allow me to address you in this way, as a brother in faith to those who believe in Christ, and as a brother to all of you in the name of our shared religious quest and our membership in the one human family. In terms of that religious quest, humanity can be compared to a band of wayfarers treading the earth with eyes lifted to heaven.” In Jakarta, to the leaders of the religions Pope Francis said: “The one root common to all religious sensitivities: the quest for an encounter with the divine, the thirst for the infinite that the Almighty has placed in our hearts, the search for a greater joy and a life stronger than any type of death, which animates the journey of our lives and impels us to step out of ourselves to encounter God.” When talking to the Asian youth in Daejeon in 2014, Pope Francis made a statement that provokes much discussion: “All religions are paths to God. I will use an analogy; they are like different languages that express the divine. But God is for everyone, and therefore, we are all God’s children.” This is a challenge Pope Francis places before the Catholic theologians, enjoining the belief in the universality and absoluteness of Jesus Christ for the redemption of the world, and the theocentric understanding of salvation.

The second is fraternity. Fraternity is based on the shared dignity as human beings, created, loved and saved by God, the creator and redeemer of all. The bond of fraternity is endangered by economic and political interests, which tear apart the people, provoke enmity and lead to wars. Policies of extremism and division, systems of unrestrained profit or hateful ideological tendencies, bring people to unresolved conflicts. Fraternity doesn’t mean uniformity and shall not lead to accept everything for the sake of unity. Fraternity means acknowledging the differences, respecting the uniqueness but at the same cultivate commonalities. Fraternity obliges to raise the voice against injustice against human beings and uncontrolled exploitation of the nature.

Pope Francis talked about harmony. In his address to the religious leaders in Mongolia, he said the following: “Brothers and sisters, the social significance of our religious traditions can be gauged by the extent to which we are capable of living in harmony with other pilgrims on this earth and can foster that harmony in the places where we live. Every human individual, and even more every religion, must be measured by the standard of altruism. Not altruism in the abstract, but in the concrete: an altruism that translates into concern for others and generous cooperation with them”.

To live consequently fraternity becomes difficult where people let themselves be determined by the uncontrolled tendency to dominate, to be more influential, to have more followers etc. The religions are challenged to go this path of conversion to give more importance on the real contribution to the progress of humanity then to preserve their own institutions. And the theologians are challenged to deepen the theology of religions and promote interreligious dialogue based on this fraternity.

Third, compassion. Especially during the time of COVID-19 Pope Francis reminded us that only with compassion we can be saved. Compassion is the attitude to be close to those who are most vulnerable. It opens also the hearts to care for the mother earth as our common home. In the general audience in September 2024 after coming back from his last visit to Asia, Pope Francis shared about his impressions about the four countries. When talking about Indonesia he said: “In Indonesia, about ten per cent of people are Christians, and three per cent Catholics – a minority. But what I encountered was a lively, dynamic Church, capable of living and transmitting the Gospel in a country which has a very noble culture, inclined to harmonize diversity, and at the same time has the largest Muslim presence in the world. In that context, I received confirmation that compassion is the path that Christians can and must walk to bear witness to Christ the Saviour, and at the same time to encounter the great religious and cultural traditions. On the subject of compassion, let us not forget the three characteristics of the Lord: closeness, mercy and compassion. God is close, God is merciful and God is compassionate. If a Christian does not have compassion, he is of no use.”

Pope Francis doesn’t close his eyes before the problems we have in Asia. And yet, he seems to be very appreciative to the values lived in this continent. This of course is a challenge for us, to safeguard such values, not just for our sake in Asia, but for the whole world.

Again, during his short visit in Mongolia, in his address to the leaders of the religions Pope Francis mentioned ten points as a great patrimony of wisdom that the various religions in Asia have helped to create: first, a healthy relationship to tradition, despite the temptations of consumerism; second, respect for the elders and ancestors; third, care for the environment, our common home. Fourth, the value of silence and the interior life, as a spiritual antidote to so many ills in today’s world. Fifth, a healthy sense of frugality; sixth, the value of hospitality; seventh, the ability to resist attachment to material objects; eight, the solidarity born of a culture of interpersonal bonds; ninth, respect for simplicity; and tenth, a certain existential pragmatism that tenaciously pursues the good of individuals and of the community. These are the points offered to the world. How to keep these values alive as the contribution of Asia, home for 60% of world population? Religions in Asia are challenged to help keep these values alive.

Pope Francis calls our attention to two groups of people, whose role is very crucial to ensure the future of interreligious dialogue and to live out the values just mentioned above. I will add a third one.

The first is the religious leaders. Asia needs religious leaders who are rooted in their own religious traditions, and the same time have open hearts and mind to cross to borders to embrace others. Leaders, who are not afraid of differences, who stand to their humanity and therefore are able to meet others as brothers and sisters. Francis himself is an example of such leaders.

Secondly, the youth. To the Asian Youth gathered in Daejeon for the Asian Youth Day, Pope Francis reminds them of the courage to promote interreligious dialogue. He says: “Interreligious dialogue among young people takes courage. The age of youth is the age of courage, but you can misuse this courage to do things that will not help you. Instead, you should have courage to move forward and to dialogue. One thing that helps a lot with dialogue is respect.” In this regard, education of the young people for interreligious is of crucial importance. We can only ensure the future of mutual respect and collaboration between the religions, if we are able to educate our young people in this spirit.

The third, the Basic Christian Communities (or Basic Ecclesial Communities). Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences has been talking about the dialogue of life among the believers of different religions. In most of the countries in Asia, we live side by side with neighbours who belong to other religions. At the same time, the Catholics are sharing their faith journey with other Catholics in these basic communities. Animating the BCC to be open and courageous in walking together with people from other religions is an important for the future, to guarantee the legacy of Pope Francis.