Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

established diplomatic relations in 1950. Relations are important as part of global

interfaith dialogue Interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions (i.e. "faiths") and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels. It is ...

, because

has the world's largest Muslim-majority population. Indonesia recognizes Roman Catholicism as one of its six approved religions. The

has a nunciature in Jakarta, while Indonesia has an embassy in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

History

There have been relations between the Holy See and Indonesia since the era of the Majapahit empire. Between 1318 and 1330 CE, Mattiussi, a Franciscan friar, visited several places in today's Indonesia: Sumatra,

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...

, and

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and ea ...

. He was sent by the Pope to launch a mission into the lands of Mongols in the Asian interior. In his report, he described the marvelous palace of the Javanese King and the war with the Great Khan of China. It was the court of Majapahit king

Jayanegara Jayanegara or Jayanagara (formal regnal name Sri Maharaja Wiralandagopala Sri Sundarapandya Dewa Adhiswara, or Sri Sundarapandyadevadhisvara Vikramottungadeva, also known as Kala Gemet), Prince of Kediri in 1295, reigned from 1309 to 1328, was a J ...

Trowulan Trowulan is an archaeological site in Trowulan Subdistrict, Mojokerto Regency, in the Indonesian province of East Java. It includes approximately 100 square kilometres and has been theorized to be the site of the eponymous capital city of the ...

that was visited by Mattiussi. During the colonial era of the Dutch East Indies, some parts of Indonesia, such as Flores, were known as

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

-majority areas. During colonial times, most Europeans residing in the Dutch East Indies were Protestants; however, the teachings of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

began to spread there in the 19th century. In 1947, Vatican established an Apostolic Delegation in Indonesia (then Dutch East Indies) with a Dutch government permit. The Holy See recognized the Republic of Indonesia on 16 March 1950 and put an

apostolic delegate An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international o ...

in the country. Official relations between the Republic of Indonesia and

were established in 1950, after independence from the Netherlands, with the status of ''Apostolic Internunciatur''. In December 1965, the status changed to ''Nunciatur Apostolic''. There have been two papal visits to Indonesia: those of

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...

in December 1970, and of

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

in October 1989. They both paid a courtesy visit to President Suharto. During his visit, Pope John Paul II celebrated a Mass and addressed a crowd of 130,000 Indonesian Catholics congregated in Gelora Bung Karno Stadium. Since September 2017, the

Apostolic Nunciature to Indonesia The Apostolic Nunciature to Indonesia ( id, Nunsiatur Apostolik untuk Indonesia), unofficially known as the Vatican Embassy in Jakarta ( id, Kedutaan Besar Vatikan di Jakarta) is a diplomatic position within the Vatican, equivalent to an embassy ...

has been assigned to Archbishop Piero Pioppo.

References

External links

Embassy of Republic of Indonesia to the Holy See
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holy See-Indonesia relations Bilateral relations of Indonesia

History

See also

References

External links