(ZENIT News / Jakarta, 19.09.2024).- On September 14, Cardinal Ignatius Hardiatmodjo consecrated a church in Lubang Buaya, in East Jakarta; the ceremony was attended by 25 priests and thousands of faithful. In 1991, a permit was requested to build on a plot purchased to comply with the Government’s norm, which calls for 40% of the surface to be kept as an open space.
In 2009, Muslim figures of Lubang Buaya signed a letter opposing the construction. The parish approached Muslim leaders and, in 2021, obtained permission from Anies Rasyid Baswedan, Governor of Jakarta.
The country is of Muslim majority. In 2009, out of 230 million inhabitants, Muslims numbered 198 million as compared with 19 million Christians, although by 2010, there were 6.5 million Christian converts from Islam. There is an official rule that calls for the written consent of the local residents, including the Muslims, for the construction of a new place of worship. The 2006 joint regulation of the Ministries of the Interior and of Religious Affairs, exacts that religious communities obtain 90 signatures from their own community and 60 signatures from other local residents in order to grant permission.
This norm was criticized by human rights groups, since it makes it difficult for minority religious groups to establish places of worship. It’s common that Muslim communities oppose the building of churches.
The prolonged wait suggested to Cardinal Hardiatmodjo that he ask the parish’s members to regard the delay in construction with hope and not as “lost time” but, rather, as a period of maturation in the faith.
During the inauguration, the Cardinal recalled the theme of Pope Francis’ recent visit: Faith, Fraternity and Compassion, highlighting the importance of remembering these Christian values.
Father Johan Ferdinand Wijshijer, parish priest of Calvary church, underscored that the inauguration of the church “is a difficult joy to express in words.” He admitted the difficulties encountered for the construction, explaining that “there are, effectively, radical groups. However, as we received the support of religious figures, they didn’t dare to interfere.”
The Mayor of the East Jakarta Administration, Muhammad Anwar, who attended the inauguration, pointed out that the new church would be beneficial for all the residents of Lubang Buaya.
Other cases of new constructions were the permit received in November of last year for the building of the Catholic church of Saint Teresa in Cikarang, in the regency of Bekasi, after 18 years of delay. And the church of Saint Benedict, the construction of which began in January of this year, after the retention of the license due to the resistance of local Muslims.
