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Congregations of sealed churches celebrate Christmas near State Palace
Members of HKBP Filadelfia Bekasi and GKI Yasmin Bogor hold a Christmas service in front of the State Palace on Friday
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Members of HKBP Filadelfia Bekasi and GKI Yasmin Bogor hold a Christmas service in front of the State Palace on Friday. They demanded that President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo protect citizens' right to pray. (Antara/Puspa Perwitasari) (Antara/Puspa Perwitasari)
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span class="inline inline-center">Members of HKBP Filadelfia Bekasi and GKI Yasmin Bogor hold a Christmas service in front of the State Palace on Friday. They demanded that President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo protect citizens' right to pray. (Antara/Puspa Perwitasari)
Unable to celebrate at their own premises, hundreds of members of two sealed church buildings in West Java have held their Christmas service in Jakarta for the fourth time.
Gathering on Friday across the State Palace, the congregations of Batak Protestant Churches (HKBP) Filadelfia in Bekasi and Indonesian Christian Church (GKI) Yasmin in Bogor had prepared an empty chair for President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo.
The red plastic chair, embellished with green decoration as if a Christmas tree, was placed in the center, with the congregation members sitting around it. White writing above it read "Indonesian President".
"The chair has been prepared in case the president is willing to join us to experience how we conduct our service," GKI Yasmin spokesman Bona Sigalingging told kompas.com on Friday.
He said the two churches had sent an invitation letter to Jokowi to witness their service. The congregations also sent the letter to Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saefuddin and Home Affairs Minister Tjahjo Kumolo.
None of the invited top officials showed up for the 2:30 p.m to 3:30 p.m. service.
'Maybe they are all busy,' Bona said, expressing his hope for the congregations to be able to hold services at their own churches again following a court verdict backed by the Ombudsman.
"Hopefully by the end of 2015 or the beginning of 2016 the seals on GKI Yasmin and HKBP Filadelfia can be removed," he said.
Bona added that the door to the GKI Yasmin church building had been closed and barricaded since Friday morning, barring the congregation from holding their Christmas service there.
The Supreme Court had ruled in favor of GKI Yasmin and ordered the Bogor municipality to open the seal and allow members to pray inside their church. However, the Bogor municipality has so far failed to comply with the Supreme Court's ruling.
The Bogor administration sealed off the church in 2010 following protests from hardline Islamic groups, who claimed the church lacked a building permit. (rin)
