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Intolerance overshadows Christmas
Some Indonesian Christians are prevented from holding prayers and services because of various laws, in particular a joint ministerial decree that has long made it difficult for religious minorities to get permits to build their places of worship.
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Locked out: Members of the Yasmin Indonesian Christian Church (GKI Yasmin) and the Filadelfia Congregation of Batak Protestant Churches (HKBP Filadelfia) take part in a Christmas Mass in front of the Presidential Palace in Central Jakarta on Wednesday. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
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hristians across the country celebrated Christmas peacefully on Wednesday, but not all were able to attend churches to enjoy the festivities, as their right to freedom of worship continues to be undermined by the state.
Some Indonesian Christians are prevented from holding prayers and services because of various laws, in particular a joint ministerial decree that has long made it difficult for religious minorities to get permits to build their places of worship.
For eight years, members of the Yasmin Indonesian Christian Church (GKI Yasmin) and the Filadelfia Congregation of Batak Protestant Churches (HKBP Filadelfia) have held Mass in front of the Presidential Palace to send a message to the government: that they have been deprived of their right to have their own places of worship.
Wednesday was the eighth time the congregations have held Christmas service in front of the palace, during which they called on President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to resolve their problems. "We hope the President can see with his eyes and his heart that some of his people are still like this. Please fix this, Pak," Jayadi Damanik, a spokesman of the congregations, told reporters.
The GKI Yasmin church, located in Bogor, West Java, was closed by the local administration in 2008 after some locals objected to its presence, while the HKBP Filadelfia church, located in Bekasi regency, also in West Java, was still under construction when the Bekasi administration, bowing to public pressure, ordered that it be sealed in 2009.
Since the signing of the 2006 joint ministerial decree on places of worship, religious minorities have faced difficulties attaining permits to build places of worship. Although Indonesia’s Constitution guarantees freedom of religion for every citizen, the decree requires a congregation to get 90 signatures from its members and another 60 from other locals before building a house of worship.
The GKI Yasmin and HKBP Filadelfia congregations are not the only Christian groups to be denied the right to hold prayers in their own places of worship.
