by Mathias Hariyadi

Muhammadiyah chief hopes to see already good Muslim-Christian relations improved. In the spirit of Saint Francis of Assisi, he wants to promote "share Muslim-Christian interests", especially in the social field. A "new chapter" in the history of the Catholic Church begins, says archbishop of Semarang.

Jakarta (AsiaNews) - Prof Din Syamsuddin, president of Muhammadiyah, talked to AsiaNews about the election of Card Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires to the Petrine throne, saying it should lead to improvements in the already better relations between the Catholic Church and the Muslim world. In the spirit of Saint Francis, whose name the pope bears, "shared interests between Muslims and Christians" should also "guarantee better living conditions for the needy."

For the president of Indonesia's largest moderate Muslim organisation, under Pope Francis's guidance, the Vatican and Muslim organisations should soon reach a Memorandum of Understanding "to confront shared issues", especially social problems like "poverty and inequality in matters of justice and social life."

Reports about the new pope reached Indonesia in the middle of the night last Wednesday, when most people, Catholics and non-Catholics, were still asleep. However, the name of Pope Francis was soon the leading item on morning newscasts.

Mgr Johannes Pujasumarta, archbishop of Semarang (central Java), welcomed this "new chapter" in the history of the Catholic Church.

Educated by the Jesuits, the religious order to which the new pontiff belongs, the Indonesian prelate said that "he was impressed by the new pope's decision to pick the name Francis", which indicates a desire to "embrace the neediest".

He was equally struck by the simple lifestyle he led each day during his long years at the helm of the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires.

However, Catholics in Indonesia have been focused on the Muslim world. In the past few years, several episodes of violence and discrimination against religious minorities have been recorded in the world's most populous Muslim nation.

Meanwhile, "I hope that the new pontiff will improve already good relations between Catholics and the Vatican with the varied Muslim world, represented in this case by the nation with the largest number of Muslims in the world, namely Indonesia," said Prof Din Syamsuddin, a long-time participants to Muslim-Christian forums.

"Such good relations can be fertile ground to improve civilisation, despite the behaviour of some human beings that have devastated it," he added.

• indonesia
• vatican
• islam
• christians
• muslims
• religious
• freedom
• pope
• bergoglio
• francis