JAKARTA, Indonesia — Pope Francis and the grand imam of Southeast Asia’s largest mosque vowed Thursday to fight religiously inspired violence and protect the environment, issuing a joint call for interfaith friendship and common cause at the heart of Francis’ visit to Indonesia.

A second highlight of the trip came later in the day when Francis celebrated a jubilant afternoon Mass in Jakarta’s steamy stadium before an estimated 100,000 people who cheered wildly as he looped the track in his open-topped popemobile.

In the morning event at Jakarta’s iconic Istiqlal Mosque, Francis presided over an interreligious gathering rich with symbolic meaning and personal touches. Present were representatives of the six religions that are officially recognized in Indonesia: Islam, Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Catholicism and Protestantism.

Francis and the grand imam, Nasaruddin Umar, stood at the ground-level entrance to the “Tunnel of Friendship,” an underpass which connects the mosque compound with the neighboring Catholic cathedral, Our Lady of the Assumption.

Indonesia, which has the world’s largest Muslim population, has held out the tunnel as a tangible sign of its commitment to religious freedom, which is enshrined in the constitution but has been challenged by repeated instances of discrimination and violence against religious minorities.

From January 2021 to July 2024, there were at least 123 cases of intolerance, including rejection, closure or destruction of places of worship and physical attacks, Amnesty International noted on the eve of Francis’ visit.

Approaching the elevator to the tunnel, Francis said it was a potent sign of how different religious traditions “have a role to play in helping everyone pass through the tunnels of life with our eyes turned towards the light.”

He encouraged Indonesians of every religious tradition to “walk in search of God and contribute to building open societies, founded on reciprocal respect and mutual love, capable of protecting against rigidity, fundamentalism and extremism, which are always dangerous and never justifiable.”

Francis traveled to Indonesia, the first leg on an 11-day, four nation journey through Southeast Asia and Oceania, to encourage it to combat religiously inspired violence and pledge the Catholic Church’s commitment to greater initiatives of fraternity.

The meeting at the mosque showed the personal side of the policy, with Francis and Umar — the 87-year-old pope and the 65-year-old imam — showing a clear affinity for one another. As Francis was leaving in his wheelchair, Umar bent down and kissed Francis on the head. Francis then grasped Umar’s hand, kissed it and held it to his cheek.

Francis has made improving Catholic-Muslim ties a hallmark of his papacy and prioritizes travel to majority Muslim nations to further the agenda.

During a 2019 visit to the Gulf, Francis and the imam of Al-Azhar, the 1,000-year-old seat of Sunni learning, launched a “Human Fraternity” movement calling for greater Christian-Muslim efforts to promote peace around the world. More recently, Francis traveled to Najaf, Iraq, in 2021 to visit the top Shiite cleric, who delivered a message of peaceful coexistence.

The new initiative launched Thursday, called The Istiqlal Declaration, now becomes another pillar of Francis’ interfaith push. It was signed by Francis and Umar at a formal ceremony in the tent on the Istiqlal Mosque compound. The other religious representatives at the encounter didn’t co-sign it but were listed by organizers as having “accompanied” it.

The document said religion should never be abused to justify violence, but should instead be used to resolve conflicts and protect and promote human dignity. It also called for “decisive action” to protect the environment and its resources, blaming human-made actions for the current climate crisis.