Fires burning for weeks have worsened air pollution in Malaysia and Singapore. While Malaysia has called for greater regional coordination, ASEAN agreements remain contingent on the willingness of individual states to cooperate.
Reactions in Indonesia to the choice of the bishop of Bogor who asked Francis to be removed from the list of bishops who will receive the purple on 7 December. Bishops' Conference president Antonio Subianto Bunjamin: “Bishop Paskalis knows what is best for him, for the diocese and for the Church”.
President Prabowo Subianto, a 73-year-old former general, chose 48 ministers and 58 deputies, in line with the figures who were part of the cabinet of his predecessor, Joko Widodo. In his inaugural address yesterday, he promised poverty eradication and nonalignment in foreign policy. In the coming gioani the “red-white” administration will be engaged in a three-day retreat at a military academy.
Tomorrow the handover of power between Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo and the former general elected in February. Mixed reactions in Indonesian society, where many remember the heavy nationalist past. The biggest unknowns concern support for the new capital Nusantara and the economic management of the country. Meanwhile, the number of government ministers will increase from 30 to 46, raising concerns about government spending.
Among the 21 new cardinals announced by Pope Francis is Bogor Bishop Paskalis Bruno Syukur. The three predecessors were all linked in various ways to the archdiocese of Semarang. A Franciscan friar, an authoritative personality with a low profile and a smiling face.
After TikTok Shop, Jakarta banned the Chinese giant that arrived in Southeast Asia in 2023. Its business model violates Indonesian regulations, due to the absence of intermediaries and distributors. Small and medium-sized enterprises are at risk. For Minister Budi Arie Setiadi, digital space should make “society more productive and profitable.”
Protests mounted by a local politician in Pare-Pare against the opening of a new school. The Gamaliel School's Foundation: We have all the permits and our classes are open to students of all denominations. Muslim influencer in defence of the school appeals to President Joko Widodo: ‘Show that unity in diversity paraded in front of Pope Francis are not just words’.
The outgoing president has lifted a ban that had been in place for more than 20 years and was introduced to protect the ecosystem and the land. In justifying the decision, he speaks of a ‘correction’ to the previous rule: it would not be sand, but ‘ocean sediments’. Former fisheries minister Susi Pudjiastuti expresses her ‘deep concern’.
Indonesians will be able to visit it upon request and with limited access for a maximum of 300 people per day. Only some areas can be visited, smoking is prohibited. Outgoing President Widodo in the new centre where he will spend his last days in office. The completion of the work, which should be completed within the next two decades, is still far off.
In the general audience held today in St Peter's Square, Francis retraced the stages of the apostolic journey that in recent days has taken him to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore. "I met living communities that grow by attraction. It gladdened my heart to be able to spend some time with the missionaries and catechists of today’.
The city where the pontiff will go tomorrow is located in a particularly remote area. Francis has expressly asked to add this stop to be able to meet the faithful of the diocese, but also the priests and religious of the Argentine Institute of the Incarnate Word in the parish of Baro, where he has contributed to the construction of a secondary school. The presence of Indonesian missionaries also among those who fled from across the border.
Archbishop Martinelli stresses to AsiaNews the link that makes the declaration signed yesterday in Jakarta and the 2019 text on human fraternity‘different and complementary’. In a world marked by war ‘the danger is getting used to dehumanisation’. Strong ‘symbols’ such as the Tunnel of Friendship or the Abrahamic House are essential. From the Pope also the call to look in depth’ in interreligious dialogue, returning “to the question of God as a fundamental human question”.
In front of thousands of people crowded at a local sports facilities, the pontiff called on the local Church to “to put out to sea.” Since “The word of the Lord cannot remain a fine abstract idea,” we are asked “to change our gaze” despite “fears and mediocrity”. Tomorrow morning Francis will bid farewell to Indonesia and depart for Papua New Guinea.
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