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Pope Francis kisses the hand of the Grand Imam of Istiqlal Mosque Nasaruddin Umar after an interreligious meeting in Jakarta on September 5, 2024.

Tiziana Fabi/AFP/Getty Images

A religious leader in the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation expressed deep condolences for the death of Pope Francis, describing the pontiff as a close friend.

Nasaruddin Umar, Indonesia’s religious affairs minister and the grand imam of Southeast Asia’s largest mosque, said his ministry “and all Indonesian people express our deepest condolences for the passing of Pope Francis,” according to national news agency Antara.

“We cannot forget his service and friendship,” Umar said.

Francis met with Umar last September during a visit to Indonesia, where the pope signed an interfaith declaration of solidarity and visited Jakarta’s grand Istiqlal Mosque, which is linked to the capital’s Catholic cathedral by an underpass known as the “tunnel of friendship.”

In a symbolic moment of interfaith harmony, Umar kissed Francis’ head who in turn kissed the Muslim leader’s hand.

“Hopefully, the cooperation between Indonesia and the Vatican, and the will that Pope Francis has pioneered, can be followed up as agreed,” Umar said today, according to Antara.

Indonesia, a secular state of more than 275 million people with a 90% Muslim majority, is home to about 8 million Catholics, according to the Church-run Vatican News.