Devoted Indonesian Christians say they remain concerned about churches being targeted by Islamists despite government pledges to improve the situation for minority faiths in the world’s largest Muslim nation.
In a piece of welcome news for historically persecuted Christians in Indonesia, Minister of Religious Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas has requested the Directorate General to ascertain whether regional Indonesian churches have been unjustly refused building permits and to facilitate the establishment of places of worship, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports. Christianity is legal in Indonesia, but the Muslim-majority country has consistently blocked the establishment of churches and impeded believers’ right to express their faith.
Rights advocates are calling for Indonesia’s blasphemy laws to be amended or revoked, as the number of Islamic fatwas and arrests for blasphemy against Islam have increased at an alarming rate, Morning Star News (MSN) reports.
An elderly Christian man in West Java province, Indonesia is now serving a second prison term for blasphemy on the grounds he insulted the Muslim prophet Mohammed in social media posts that were critical of Islam, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
Muslims in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, are blocking a Christian school from being built in their neighborhood despite the school having been granted the requisite building permit by the authorities, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
A Christian in school in South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia, has been told its permit will be withdrawn following pressure applied on local officials by Muslims, including members of the banned Islamic Defenders Front (IDF), Morning Star News (MSN) reports.
A large group of around 50 Muslims conducted an anti-Christian protest at a shophouse church in Depok City, Indonesia, last month, angrily shouting and pushing against the fence surrounding the building, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
The Indonesian Bethel Church Solagracia in Padang, West Sumatra has reported that a service it held in a rented home on August 29 was disrupted by neighbors who broke a window while threatening them and demanding they stop worshiping, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
Members of a house church in West Sumatra Province, Indonesia, were placed in extreme danger by Muslim relatives of their landlord, who broke up their worship service by threatening to kill them with a machete last month, Morning Star News (MSN) reports.
A Muslim man in Indonesia’s Sumatra island has been sentenced to three months imprisonment for overstepping his authority as head of a Lampung Province neighborhood and disrupting a Christian worship service being held there, Morning Star News (MSN) reports.
Muslim protestors blocked worship services from taking place at two separate churches in northern Indonesia earlier this month, Morning Star News (MSN) reports. While Christianity is legal under the Indonesian Constitution, the Muslim-majority country ranks 33rd on the US Open Doors World Watch List 2023 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.
Although Indonesia’s Constitution specifically protects religious freedom, a church in East Jakarta has come under pressure to close, after Islamic government authorities threatened to permanently deny the congregation a permit to meet and worship in their own building, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
Indonesian Christians said Tuesday that several church congregations have been “disbanded” by angry Muslim protesters and local authorities. “In one of them, my children worship,” a concerned Christian told Worthy News.
A Christian congregation in North Sumatra Province, Indonesia, had its worship service disrupted by Muslim protestors for the second time in two months on July 2, Morning Star News (MSN) reports.
In a positive move for religious minorities in Indonesia, the country’s Minister of Religion has announced a plan to ease the burdensome permit regulations for houses of worship by allowing approval with only one recommendation, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
Authorities in Indonesia’s East Jakarta city have reopened a church building three months after they closed it as part of a broader crackdown on devoted congregations in the world’s largest Muslim nation, Christians confirmed Thursday.
Muslims in Indonesia disrupted Christian Sunday services at a house church in West Java Province and at a church site in Central Java Province on 18 June, arguing that such worship is illegal and should be prohibited, Morning Star News (MSN) reports.
The mayor of Indonesia’s central city of Medan has allowed an evangelical congregation to worship in his office after angry Muslims and local officials prevented gatherings at a mall.
Following a large protest by members of the Indonesian Muslim Alliance (AUI), a church in Medan, Indonesia has been prevented from holding worship services in a room it rented at a shopping mall for this purpose, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
Christians on Indonesia’s Sumatra Island were recently prevented from worshiping when mobs of Muslim extremists disrupted two separate services in Binjai, North Sumatra Province, and in Riau, Pekanbaru Province in southern Sumatra, Morning Star News (MSN) reports.