Pope Francis left Rome in the evening…
…and about 13 hours later, he stepped off the plane at the airport in Jakarta to start his 45th international trip.
The welcome ceremony was simple. He was received by some local authorities, the nuncio, Archbishop Piero Pioppo, and the archbishop of Jakarta, Cardinal Ignatius Suharyo, Indonesia's third cardinal in history. Then Pope Francis went directly to the nunciature.
During his flight, following tradition, the Pope greeted the 80 journalists on board. And he noted this trip was historic for his pontificate as he had never made such a long trip.
I thank you for coming on this trip. Thank you for your company. I think it is the longest trip I have taken.
Among the journalists present was Valentina Alazraki, celebrating her 160th papal trip. Unlike on other recent trips, Pope Francis did not greet the press seated, but rather walked through the aisles of the plane to meet them.
The Pope also shared some touching moments, such as when he received a personal letter from the family of Mateo Gomez, the 11-year-old boy murdered in Toledo, Spain along with a T-shirt with the boy's name on it, which the Pope signed. He was also given a torch migrants usually carry when they cross the Mediterranean to signal their presence and call for help.
It was a long trip but one the Pope had been looking forward to for a while—as he had almost never visited this corner of the planet. The only other trips in this part of the world were to the Philippines and Sri Lanka in 2015 and in Thailand and Japan in 2019.
JRB
TR: KG
