Java, were struggling to worship Sunday, January 22, after local authorities reportedly ordered them to cease their meetings.
The Office of National Unity and Public Protection in Bandung district instructed the house churches in the Rancaekek Kencana housing complex "to stop using private homes as worship venues," reported Christian news agency Compass Direct.
Each church received the order by letter following a meeting on January 12 attended by local officials, police, the commander of the local military and the leader of a local Muslim forum, the news agency said.
Despite the order several house churches in the Rancaekek complex reportedly met for worship last Sunday, January 15, saying they had no alternative venue. It was not immediately clear if they would try to meet again Sunday, January 22.
NO PERMITS
The churches first applied for permits in 1993, when the housing complex was built, but their applications were allegedly repeatedly rejected.
Under a ministerial decree issued in 1969, all religious groups must apply for permits before establishing places of worship. Since neighbors must give their approval before a permit is granted, the decree is "a huge obstacle for church groups meeting in majority-Muslim communities," Compass Direct said.
Edin Hendradin, the head of the Office of National Unity and Public Protection, rejected claims that his department was closing down churches. "Please be fair,” he told Compass Direct. “What has happened in Rancaekek is not church closure; we’re just restoring the proper function of private homes."
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION
Human rights watchers have also expressed concern about limitations on Christian education in the province. Three Indonesian Sunday school teachers, Dr. Rebekka Zakaria, Eti Pangesti and Ratna Bangun, serve a three year prison since September in the Indramayu district of West Java province for allegedly forcing Muslim children to become Christians.
The three have denied the accusations and say the Muslim children attended the Sunday school classes with the consent of their parents.
There has also been concern that the Christian minority is increasingly becoming the target for Muslim extremism. In one of the latest attacks, a New Year’s eve bomb rocked a Christian market in Palu on Indonesia’s tense Sulawesi Island killing at least eight people and injuring dozens of others. The attack was blamed on Islamic militants. Christians comprise roughly eight percent of Indonesia’s over 241-million mainly Muslim people, the world’s largest Islamic nation. (With BosNewsLife Research and reports from Indonesia).
