(The Indo Daily) – Pope Francis is scheduled to lead Mass at 17.00 on Thursday (05/09) at Gelora Bung Karno (GBK) stadion, which is expected to be attended by around 80,000 people.
Since early morning Thursday, thousands Catholics from greater Jakarta area, Bogor, Bekasi, Tangerang as well as from other parts of Java island were heading to the GBK stadion. As reported by several local news sites, thousands of people from Surabaya and Malang were heading to GBK since very early morning with busses.
People from Greater Jakarta area were also heading to GBK. They were happy, excited and feel blessed to be able attend to Mass with Pope, which is rare moment. The last Pope to visit Indonesia was Pope John Paul, who visited Indonesia in 1989.
Feel Blessed
Capt. Jaka Pituana, a pilot with a private airline, said he is very happy to attend the Mass “Personally, he feel blessed because this is a rare moment. As we know, the last Pope to visit Indonesia was Pope John Paul in 1989. This is probably my last chance to attend Mass with Pope at GBK,” Capt. Jaka Pituana told theindodaily.com.
Ardhian Kristanti, from Santa Maria Fatima Parish, Sentul City, said, “This is an emotional spirit moment for me to be to attend the Mass. The Pope came to Indonesia, sending a message of faith, fraternity and compassion.”
F. X. Suwandono, also an SMF Parish member, said Indonesians have been waiting for the visit of Pope for many times. We heard it before, it did not happened. “The visit of Pope has been eagerly waited not only by the Catholic people but by the people of Indonesia because he is not only the Leader of Catholic people in the world but also the Head of Vatican State,” Wawan said.
“The visit of Pope Francis is a trully blessed for Indonesia, in particular the Catholic people of Indonesia. This is a very happy moment as they have the rare opportunity to attend Mass whe Pope,” Wawan added.
On Thursday, Pope Francis has a busy schedule. In the morning he visited Istiqal Mosque and held inter-religious dialogue, attended by Muslim scholars.
Last night he held dialogue with the youth, who are students of Scholas Occurrentes, which was created by Pope Francis, at Graha Pemuda building. The Pope held a candid, frank and emotion gathering.
Written by Staff Writer
Edited by Roffie Kurniawan