Indonesia Muslims Rally Against Church Construction (Worthy News Investigation)

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

JAKARTA (Worthy News) – Muslims have threatened massive protests against the construction of a Catholic church in Indonesia’s West Java Province in the latest standoff over Christian worship in the world’s largest Muslim country.

In comments monitored by Worthy News on Thursday, lawyer Anton Minardi said he had been authorized by residents of Cipamokolan village in the Rancasari Sub-District of the provincial capital Bandung to challenge the project.

The lawyer of law firm Anton Minardi & Partners warned he “would take legal action” due to “criminal elements in the case” surrounding the construction of the St. Anthony Sang Hyang Hurip Catholic Church.

Residents, who are mainly Muslim, “plan to hold a large-scale demonstration to express their disappointment over what they perceive as government officials ignoring their strong protests,” he added.

The lawyer cited parts of a 2006 Joint Ministerial Decree that said, “the local community should resolve any conflict arising from the establishment of houses of worship.”

Minardi stressed in published remarks that the decree also mandates that the “actual needs of specific religious groups in a given area must be considered when building houses of worship. Ideally, local authorities should facilitate dialogue between conflicting parties.”

The conflict comes despite Pope Francis’s 2024 visit to Indonesia, where he called for religious dialogue between Muslims and minority Christians.

SUMMONING PARTIES

With tensions mounting, Worthy News learned that Bandung’s Regional People’s Representative Council, an influential local authority, wants “to summon all involved parties.”

It cited alleged “mismanagement, false declarations, fictitious residents, forged signatures, and indications of bribery” related to securing support for the church’s construction from local officials.

Christians have vehemently denied wrongdoing and say obtaining such permits is nearly impossible for most new churches. “Especially in places such as Bandung, it is very difficult to get a permit to build a church. They don’t want churches because they are not preaching Islam,” a church worker told Worthy News.

“When there are a lot of Muslims, they will not allow Christian sites such as churches and schools. We have recently seen the same issue in Sulawesi Province where a Christian could not open,” added the church worker, who identified herself only as Victoria.

Even when smaller churches manage to fulfill the requirement of obtaining 90 signatures from congregation members and 60 from households of different religions in the area, they often face delays, Christians say.

Victoria and other believers in Indonesia say they are frequently pressured to pay extra fees, referred to as “grease money,” to local officials or residents to secure building permits for churches or other institutions such as schools.

According to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), people identifying themselves as Christians comprise at least nearly 11 percent of Indonesia’s 282 million people.

MUSLIM CONVERSIONS

Some evangelical leaders have told Worthy News the actual figure may be higher as many Muslims turn to faith in Christ, adding to tensions with the Muslim establishment and residents.

The latest standoff over a church construction in West Java Province did not surprise Christians. The pressure [on Christians] is also higher in places like West Java or Aceh, where radical Islamic groups exert a heavy influence on society and politics,” noted the advocacy group Open Doors.

It has ranked Indonesia 42nd on its annual World Watch List of 50 countries where it says Christians face most persecution for their faith.

“The situation for Christians has been deteriorating in recent years, with Indonesian society increasingly influenced by conservative interpretations of Islam. Polls regularly show that especially young people hold conservative views, and by-laws on Islamic dress are becoming more common.”

It noted that “Many converts from Islam experience pressure from their families. However, the intensity of the pressure depends on the individual family and place.”

Despite the crackdown, Christian leaders have told Worthy News they are encouraged by the spread of the Christian faith in the country.

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