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Bishops council supports interfaith unions
The Bishops Council of Indonesia (KWI) told Constitutional Court judges on Monday that it fully supported interfaith marriage and emphasized that the state had no right to prohibit its citizens from marrying whomsoever they wished
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he Bishops Council of Indonesia (KWI) told Constitutional Court judges on Monday that it fully supported interfaith marriage and emphasized that the state had no right to prohibit its citizens from marrying whomsoever they wished.
KWI representative Rev. Purbo Tamtomo said that marriage was a basic human right and that the government, rather than taking a regulatory role, should stand alongside citizens to make sure they were able to fully exercise that right.
'The government should protect its people so they can establish a harmonious family, not dictate whom people should or shouldn't marry,' Purbo told the Constitutional Court bench chaired by Arief Hidayat.
On Sep. 4, three graduates and one student from the University of Indonesia's School of Law filed a judicial review at the court. They requested that the court justices review Article 2 of the Marriage Law, which stipulates that marriage ceremonies must be conducted with religious rites.
In the petitioners' view, forcing people to choose a specific religion as a basis for their marriage prevented couples from enjoying liberty of worship and practicing their religion of choice.
The law neither suggests nor prohibits marriages between people of different religions. However, it stipulates that couples must be married in religious ceremonies and register their marriages at the civil registry office.
'The article gives nobody a choice as to whether to apply provisions of religion to their marriage or not,' Damian Agata Yuvens, one of the petitioners, told judges during the initial trial.
The law's lack of clarity has led to debate and the insistence of some groups that interfaith marriage should not be allowed.
A representative from the Indonesian Parishada Hindu Council (PHDI), I Nengah Dharma, Rev. Purbo Tamtomo and another PHDI member Yanto Jaya witnessed at the court on Monday.
