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View all search resultsReligious Affairs Ministry hosts first Christmas celebration
The move comes amid continued concerns about religious intolerance in Indonesia, where issues surrounding Christmas greetings and joint celebrations with Muslims remain sensitive in the country’s Muslim-majority context.
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A Muslim vendor sells Christmas decorations on Dec. 11, 2024, at a shopping mall in Jakarta. (AFP/Aditya Aji)
T
he Religious Affairs Ministry is breaking new ground with its first-ever Christmas celebration, which officials say sends a historic message of religious inclusivity.
Speaking at an interfaith walk at the ministry complex in Jakarta on Sunday, Religious Affairs Minister Nasaruddin Umar, affiliated with Indonesia’s largest Islamic organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, announced the ministry would hold its own Christmas festivities this year, a first in its decades-long history.
“All this time, Christians and Catholics have celebrated Christmas, but we have never held one inside the Religious Affairs Ministry,” Nasaruddin said, as quoted by kompas.com.
Director General of Christian Community Guidance Jeane Marie Tulung said the celebration would be limited to the ministry’s internal environment, distinguishing it from the annual national Christmas celebrations.
“To date, the ministry’s Christian Community Guidance has only held our own Christmas celebrations [within our group],” she told The Jakarta Post on Monday, declining to comment on the same thing about the ministry’s Catholic Community Guidance.
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As for the national Christmas events, she said they would unfold across multiple regions following the Jakarta kick-off, featuring seminars, services, book launches, social programs and a main celebration scheduled for Dec. 22.
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