Pope seeks end to extremism on Asian tour

Pope Francis on Wednesday appealed for religious unity to counter extremism and intolerance, as the longest tour of the 87-year-old’s papacy got into full swing in Muslim-majority Indonesia.
On the first full day of his four-nation trip to the Asia-Pacific, the pontiff zeroed in on the role all faiths can play on flashpoint security issues.
In his speech after meeting President Joko Widodo, the pope said self-interest was preventing the religious unity he had called for and was driving wars around the world, without referring to a specific one.
Indonesia, which is the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, has long struggled with Islamist militancy.
Bombings on the resort island of Bali in 2002 that killed 202 people were the deadliest in Indonesian history and led to a crackdown on militancy.