The Indian Summer of the Vatican’s Security Services
Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Dili, Timor-Leste
At 87 years old and after 11 years of his pontificate, Pope Francis is preparing to set off on a journey of more than 30,000 kilometers to Southeast Asia. It is an unprecedented security challenge for those who will be responsible for protecting the Roman Pontiff, because several of the countries on the program for the Apostolic Journey are often prey to Islamic terrorism or tribal wars.
Indonesia
According to The Pillar, “Pope Francis will begin his visit Sept. 3 in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest country. He will be the third pope to land on Indonesian soil after Paul VI in 1970 and John Paul II in 1989.
“Indonesia is the country with the world’s biggest Islamic population. An estimated 87% of the nation’s more than 270 million people are Muslim. Christians, the largest religious minority, account for around 11%.
“According to Jakarta’s Cardinal Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo, Indonesia’s two largest Islamic organizations, Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama, are ‘very open and tolerant.’ But Indonesia has suffered dozens of terrorist attacks in the first decades of the 21st century. Sometimes attackers have focused on the Christian minority. [...]
“Indonesian authorities will be on high alert [...] following an incident on July 31, when a counter-terrorism squad seized a 19-year-old suspected of planning to bomb places of worship in Malang, in the province of East Java. [...]
“Stanislaus Riyanta, a researcher in intelligence, security, and terrorism at the University of Indonesia, told UCA News that the government needed to monitor the possibility of lone-wolf attacks.”
Papua New Guinea
The Pope will then visit Papua New Guinea, which, according to The Pillar, “had a difficult start to 2024. On Jan. 10, riots broke out in the capital, Port Moresby, where Pope Francis will touch down Sept. 6.” In February, 26 people died “in a gun battle between tribes in the country’s remote highlands, which are rich in natural resources, including gold,” The Pillar relates.
Francis will be, after John Paul II, the second Pope to visit this country. According to La Croix, “of the 90% who are Christians, 64% are Protestant (Evangelical) and 24% are Catholic. This represents approximately 1.5 million people,” for a population of 9.5 million inhabitants.
Timor-Leste
On September 10, the Pope will go to Timor-Leste, a country that has only been independent since 2002 and which has 1.3 million inhabitants, 97% of whom are Catholic. The country is to receive assistance from neighboring countries to provide papal security—security which will be “tightened considerably,” according to The Pillar, including measures to prevent the frequent street fights between students of rival martial arts groups that have wreaked havoc in the capital.
Singapore
The last stop of the papal journey should be the most peaceful: Singapore, which Francis is scheduled to visit from September 11 to 13, is one of the safest countries in the world. The risks, if any, come rather from neighboring Malaysia, which has a predominantly Muslim population. The Pillar notes that “militant groups are expected to hold rallies against the Sept. 11-13 papal visit.”
Aruna Gopinath, Professor Emeritus at the National Defence University of Malaysia, told UCA News: “The pontiff picked the wrong time to come [to Singapore].” According to him, visiting a country that openly supports Israel “will certainly ignite diehard pro-Islamic groups.” It is looking like a warm Indian summer for the Vatican’s security services.
(Sources : The Pillar/UCA News/La Croix – FSSPX.Actualités)
Illustration : Bahnfrend, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
