Pope Calls on Priests to Be Courageous : Religion: Visiting Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, the pontiff praises religious diversity and gives a pep talk to the Roman Catholic minority.

Pope John Paul II called on local Roman Catholic priests Tuesday to show courage in adversity, and he told leaders of the Muslim majority in Indonesia that religious freedom is a fundamental human right.

The Pope’s remarks underlined the sensitive position of Christian churches in the world’s most populous Muslim nation. But Vatican sources said he intended them in a global sense.

Although practical problems abound, the sources said, Indonesian bishops have conveyed no sense or fear of persecution in their meetings with the Pope. Indonesian Catholics, many of them ethnic Chinese, are a minority within an 11% Christian minority in this officially secular nation of 175 million people, of whom more than 80% are Muslim.

White-robed John Paul II met Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu and other Indonesian religious leaders in a park Tuesday after a morning Mass in Jogjakarta, about an hour by air from this capital of the island nation that sprawls across 3,000 miles of ocean. More than 100,000 attended the Mass.

“I wish to express my hope that Indonesia’s religious believers will take the lead in showing what profound respect for others can foster in doing harmony among the diverse people of this nation,” the Pope said.

Indonesia, the fifth most populous nation on Earth and one of the world’s largest petroleum exporters, consists of 13,677 islands peopled by 10 ethnic groups. The residents speak 200 languages in addition to the official language, which is related to Malay.

The Pope, saying there is strength in diversity, told his “distinguished friends” that freedom of worship is essential for all.

“Religious freedom is indeed a fundamental human right, one which should be enjoyed by all religious communities, as well as individuals,” he said. “Hence, it is very important that this right be protected.”

Amid a growing Muslim orthodoxy in some parts of Indonesia, the national legislature is debating two bills that would alarm Christian communities if enacted into law.

One would give civil authority to Muslim courts in cases in which disputants agree to be bound by their decision. The other would require instruction in Islam in all Indonesian schools, including those run by Protestants and Catholics.

Catholic schools, in particular, have been among the most prestigious in the archipelago since the days when Indonesia was a Dutch colonial possession. Five of President Suharto’s 41 Cabinet ministers are Catholic, and a number of others were educated in Catholic schools. Collectively, they are known as “the Berkeley Mafia” because a third of them went to college in the United States.

John Paul II called for a “respectful dialogue” of both words and deeds among all of Indonesia’s religions. He said that together they can contribute to building “a society of cooperation, tolerance and unity.”

Speaking later to Catholic priests and nuns, the Pope cautioned that “in order that your witness may be credible, your lives must radiate joy and courage even in the face of adversity.”

Catholic bishops have complained that local officials and Muslim communities are often less tolerant of minority faiths than the Indonesian constitution requires. In matters ranging from building permits to visas for missionaries, the bureaucracy is particularly uncooperative, Indonesian Christians say. The Pope, noting a growth in the number of Indonesian priests from 800 to 1,100 in the last seven years, urged priests to be steadfast to their vows of dedication and moral integrity.

“Your churches today continue to need holy and wise priests who are able to show the right path, however daunting or difficult,” he said.

Today, John Paul II will undertake a long journey to an afternoon Mass in the small agricultural city of Maumere on the island of Flores. From there, he will travel Thursday to a Mass in Catholic East Timor, a disputed former Portuguese possession in extreme eastern Indonesia, a few hundred miles from Darwin, Australia.