Indonesia: Aceh Province closes three churches in post-election crackdown.

On May 1st, and following last month’s elections, the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) and police in Indonesia’s Aceh province closed down one Protestant and two Catholic churches.  Enforcing the closures, the authorities cited the church’s failure to comply with a biased 2006 government decree which requires any non-Muslim religious community to have at least 90 congregation members, as well as written approval to build a house of worship from at least 60 people from other religions.  The three closed churches are located in a predominantly Muslim region where Sharia law is enforced.

Frans R Zai, a Capuchin seminarian from Sibolga diocese said the closures were politically motivated, rather than socially or religiously, and were a direct result of the recent regional elections which changed the balance of power in the province.

The Indonesian Committee on Religion and Peace said they would ask the central government for help to resolve the matter, as the actions against the Catholic and Protestant minority groups were unreasonable.  The Catholic Chapel was more than 40 years old and the other over 38 years old.  Indeed, in all of their history, none of the three closed churches has ever had an incident of protest or tension with their overwhelmingly Muslim neighbours.

continue reading "Weekly Summary: Indonesia (May 16, 2012)"