Catholics in Jakarta greeted Pope Francis with tearful cheering on Tuesday (September 3) as he made his way into the Vatican Embassy following his arrival in Indonesia earlier in the day.

Overcome with emotion, a local nun, Sister Maria Celine, said she was “very proud and touched because we are in a Muslim country and yet are still visited by the Pope”.

Another Catholic resident, Nini, who did not give a last name, said she hoped that with the Pope’s blessings, Indonesia could become a better country.

READ: Pope arrives in Muslim-majority Indonesia to start Asia-Pacific tour

The 87-year-old pontiff landed at Jakarta's Soekarno–Hatta airport on a chartered ITA Airways flight earlier on Tuesday.

Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation, has about 280 million inhabitants, of which only about 3% are Catholic. 

(Production: Andi Jatmiko, Helena Alves, Fadlan Syam, Zahra Matarani)