T

he rising intolerance among local residents in Greater Jakarta has taken its toll on the congregation of Santa Clara who had to hold their Palm Sunday Mass in a shop house in Wisma Asri, Bekasi, West Java, instead of in their church.

Around 500 devotees gathered at the shop from 6 a.m., but given the venue'€™s limited capacity, most of them had to take part in the service on the street. Nonetheless, the attendees, ranging from children to seniors, solemnly observed the service until it finished two hours later.

The congregation has been facing the same situation for more than 18 years. Despite having met all the requirements to build a church, which would be the first ever Catholic church in north Bekasi, they have been unable to build because of opposition from groups such as Forum Umat Islam (Islamic People'€™s Forum) and Majelis Silaturahmi Umat Islam Bekasi (Bekasi Islamic People'€™s Union).

The groups recently staged a rally urging the city administration to revoke the church'€™s building permit claiming that it was an attempt at '€œChritianization'€ and that '€œBekasi is a city of santri [Islamic boarding school students]'€.

Santa Clara is not the only congregation to fall victim to hardliners and the inability of some authorities to protect citizens'€™ basic rights. Similar cases have also occurred with GKI Yasmin in Bogor, HKBP Pangkalan Jati Gandul in Cinere, Depok and HKBP Filadelfia in Bekasi, all in West Java.

Bekasi Mayor Rahmat Effendi actually issued a recommendation letter last year, allowing the construction to proceed. However, following the recent protests, the Bekasi administration requested Santa Clara to halt the construction of the church '€œto maintain a conducive environment'€.

Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin has also called for the dispute to be solved with a soft approach and discouraged any kind of mass rally, particularly involving violence.

'€œWe all need to maintain interreligious harmony and prevent any form of provocation that could cause sectarian conflict,'€ Lukman said in a statement.

Lukman supported steps being taken by the mayor of Bekasi to proactively hold discussions with parties disagreeing with the establishment of the church as well as with the Inter-Religious Harmony Forum (FKUB) and the local religious affairs agency. '€œIf the discussions fail to reach agreement, then please proceed with legal action,'€ he said.

Santa Clara priest Raymundus Sianipar, better known as Romo Ray, said that he and his team had been struggling to meet the requirements to be able to build the church to accommodate around 9,000 Catholics in the region.

Starting from collecting support from 60 residents around the church location, permission from the FKUB and getting the green light from the city administration, all of which had been met by the church team since last year.

'€œEach city has its own characteristics, and this is a challenge we have to face here. We are trying to softly approach each relevant party to allow us to exercise our rights,'€ he said.

He added that the struggle to establish the church was not merely for the sake of Christian people, but could also serve as a symbol of religious tolerance in the city.

Romo Ray said that the members of Santa Clara had made preparations ahead of Easter Sunday by coordinating with security officers and local residents near the shop house to ensure the security and smooth running of a series of Easter events. (fac)