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Indonesia celebrates peaceful Christmas
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By candlelight: Churchgoers raise Christmas candles during a service at Immanuel Church in Central Jakarta on Saturday. (JP/Donny Fernando)
T
he country celebrated a peaceful Christmas on Sunday with people sharing the joy and warmth of Christmas under the high alert of security personnel amid growing intolerance and terrorist activities shrouding the country.
In Jakarta, thousands of parishioners visited the Jakarta Cathedral on Saturday and Sunday for Christmas Mass that highlighted peace and tolerance. It was also the first time management of the church opted for Betawi-themed decorations. Churchgoers were greeted with delman (horse-drawn carriage), ondel-ondel (giant Betawi effigies) and other ornaments of Betawi culture, a Jakarta native ethnic group strongly associated with the Islamic faith.
Jakarta Archbishop Mgr. Ignatius Suharyo, who led the Christmas Mass at the cathedral on Sunday, pointed out during a press conference that ethnicity, religion and racial sentiments had emerged and stirred unease among residents. However, he expressed hope that the spirit of Christmas could contribute in bringing a sense of peace and maintaining the unity of the state.
“It is time to release ourselves from negative paradigms and religious and racial sentiments,” Suharyo said.
(Read also: Christmas safety guaranteed)
Located just beside Indonesia’s largest mosque, Istiqlal, the two houses of worship continued their decades-long display of interfaith harmony by sharing parking lots during the Christmas service. For many years, Istiqlal employees and members of Muslim organizations were also deployed to secure the church area during Christmas and Easter.
“Even though we have different beliefs to Catholic followers at the cathedral, we have a strong relationship with them. Our parking and security officers are also ready to help our brothers in the cathedral,” Istiqlal public relations officer Abu Hurairah told The Jakarta Post.
Several acts of intolerance emerged prior to Christmas, including in Bandung, West Java, where churchgoers under the Spiritual Awakening Service (KKR) community had to cancel their Christmas service earlier this month following protests from Islamic hard-line groups. More recently, members of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI), escorted by the police, visited malls in Surabaya, East Java, demanding managements to follow an Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) fatwa to not ask Muslim employees to wear Christmas attributes. The intolerant acts had somewhat gained ground following large-scale protests against Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama over his allegedly blasphemous remarks.
However, the National Police previously stated that they would heighten security measures at churches throughout the country for Christmas and New Year’s celebrations in order to maintain security. The police had also conducted crackdowns on terrorist cells in several areas to give a reassurance of peaceful year-end celebrations.
(Read also: Bandung Mayor attends Christmas service, apologizes for intolerance)
On Christmas Eve, National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian, Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo and Jakarta acting governor Soni Sumarsono visited several churches in Jakarta in a move to help guarantee safety during the religious activities.
Meanwhile, interfaith tolerance was high during Christmas celebrations in Banuroja village, Randangan district in Pohuwato regency, Gorontalo. Christians celebrated Christmas along with their fellow Muslims and Hindu residents in the village of 1,000 people.
A safe Christmas was also observed in Surakarta, Central Java, where thousands of parishioners celebrated Christmas with their families under high security by the police and the TNI. Dozens of security vehicles conducted patrols with personnel, guarding all the churches in the city where several alleged terrorists were arrested recently during crackdowns by the National Police’s Densus 88 counterterrorism squad.
“The patrols were meant to provide security to all residents, especially those celebrating Christmas,” Surakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Ahmad Luthfi said.
The measures sent a stern message that Christmas safety was fully guaranteed.
“We were glad the government was really hands on with the security. As the minority [group] we were happy to get protection and comfort,” said churchgoer Vincent Bramantyo.
