Indonesian ambassador highlights AYD importance

VATICAN CITY –  The 7th Asian Youth Day(AYD) kicked off in Indonesia on 30 July 2017 with the preliminary event “Days in Dioceses,” where over 2000 Catholic youth from 21 Asian countries will be hosted in 11 Indonesian dioceses from  July 30 to Aug 2.  They will then converge in Yogyakarta city, in Semarang Archdiocese, for the main AYD event, August 2-6.

Each of the AYDs held since 1999 in intervals of 2, 3 or 5 years, in various cities of Asia, had a specific theme.   The theme this time – “Joyful Asian Youth: Living the Gospel ‎in Multicultural Asia‎!”‎ – intends to underscore the need for Asian youth to follow Christ amidst the immense variety of Asia’s cultural and natural diversity of which Indonesia is a prime model.

With some 17,000 islands dotting its vast expanse of some 1.9 million sq km., Indonesia is the ‎largest ‎archipelagic nation in the world.  It is home to over 300 ethnic groups and more than 700 languages. With more than 85 percent of its of 250 million population professing Islam, it is home to the world’s largest Muslim population and is the 4th most populous country.  Yet officially it is a secular state with the Indonesian Constitution guaranteeing freedom of religion, although the state officially recognises only six ‎ religions (Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and ‎Confucianism).In an interview

In an interview with Vatican Radio, Indonesia’s ambassador to the Holy See, Antonius Agus Sriyono‎, noted that by hosting the 7th AYD, his country wanted to emphasise the need for young people of Asia and Indonesia to promote and respect unity amidst diversity.  Vatican Radio Stefano Lesczynski who interviewed Sriyono, first asked him about the expectations of the Catholic and Christian communities from the AYD in Indonesia.

Ambassador Sriyono said that young people are very important for Indonesia in the coming decade.  It is important for young Indonesian Catholics to promote and respect the ideal of Indonesia’s unity.   In all Asian countries too, he said, there is the need to maintain unity amidst their diversity and variety.  “Let us together respect diversity,” he said.

By hosting the 7th AYD, Sriyono continued,  Indonesia wanted to emphasise the first principle of the Pancasila, which is respect for other faiths; and the second principle – respect for differences based on humanity.

The Indonesian ambassador to the Holy See also spoke about the need for inter-faith dialogue in order to curb the growth of radicalism in his country.  He said inter-religious dialogue creates understanding amidst differences.  “Dialogue is important to bridging differences,” he said.   – Vatican Radio