JAKARTA, INDONESIA — During his three-day visit to Indonesia last week, Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church, urged Indonesians to live up to the promise represented by the nation’s own motto — “Unity in Diversity.”
While praising Indonesia’s constitution, which guarantees religious freedom, Francis also warned in an address following a meeting with President Joko Widodo that the diversity of the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation can also lead to conflict.
Francis emphasized the importance of interfaith dialogue to eliminate prejudices and build mutual respect. “This is indispensable for meeting common challenges, including that of countering extremism and intolerance, which through the distortion of religion attempt to improve their views by using deception and violence,” Francis said.
Indonesia’s statistical agency says that 87% of the country’s 280 million people are Muslim. However, 2.9% of the total population is Catholic, making its Christian community the third largest in Asia after the Philippines and China.
Indonesia’s struggle against religious intolerance
Despite legal guarantees of religious freedom, which includes a Religious Harmony bill signed into law in 2006, research by Human Rights Watch indicates a flare-up of religious intolerance.
Examples include the imprisonment of Jakarta’s Christian governor for blasphemy in 2016, violence against religious minorities; and problems faced by some Christian groups seeking to secure building permits for churches.
Novi from Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, a Catholic, who traveled to Jakarta to witness Pope Francis' visit to Istiqlal Mosque, hopes the visit can encourage a revival of religious tolerance in the country.
“I’m really sad when I hear news reports saying that churches faced difficulties in setting up a church and require approval of the majority from the surrounding community and municipal and provincial office,” she said.
In 2006, a group of religious and community leaders established the Religious Harmony Forum (FKUB), dedicated to protecting religious harmony, including making recommendations to the mayor or regent on the construction of any new house of worship.
But according to Andreas Harsono, a senior Indonesian researcher at Human Rights Watch, the forum has been politicized over the years.
In hopes of quelling religious intolerance, Minister of Religious Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas said a new presidential regulation is being developed that will no longer allow the FKUB to recommend the establishment of a house of worship. That right will remain with the Ministry of Religious Affairs.
Andreas Harsono of the Human Rights Watch sees this as a "step in the right direction.”
"The FKUB recommendations are proven to be the most damaging of the 2006 regulations on religious harmony. The religious harmony regulation basically makes the so-called majority have veto power over the minorities in Indonesia. It's turning Indonesia into an intolerant Muslim-majority country,” he said.
Halili Hasan, executive director of the SETARA Institute, agrees with abolishing the FKUB’s right to recommend. He added that FKUB has not been able to prevent and handle various violations of freedom of religion and belief.
SETARA Institute is a think tank that advocates for democracy and human rights in Indonesia and releases an annual report on the condition of freedom of religion and belief.
The report in 2023 listed at least 65 places of worship that experienced disturbances throughout that year, ranging from objections to the construction of a house of worship to the sealing off of places of worship. That compares to 50 such incidents in the previous year.
Still, the Ministry of Religious Affair’s Religious Harmony Index survey for 2023 found a steady increase in religious harmony from 2020 to 2023. The index was scored from 0 to 100, with 100 being the most harmonious. The national score for 2023 was 76.02, the highest score recorded in the last five years.
Eli Trisiana is a Muslim and government civil servant who came to see Pope Francis.
"We need to hold a heart-to-heart dialogue with those deemed religious intolerant,’’ Eli Trisiana said. ‘’We cannot deal with them using violence. I think that is the best method to solve differences of opinion. In Islam there are verses taught to us that reconcile with non-believers, which is "unto you your religion and unto me my religion."
Interfaith dialogue
During an interfaith dialogue at Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, 87-year-old Pope Francis met with representatives of Indonesia’s six officially recognized religions — Islam, Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Protestantism and Catholicism — along with a representative for traditional beliefs.
Francis and the grand imam of the Istiqlal Mosque, Nasaruddin Umar, signed a "Human Fraternity” document declaring their commitment to interfaith harmony. The document calls for religious leaders to overcome two serious crises faced by the world: dehumanization and climate change.
The grand imam said he won’t let this signing be in vain and that he plans to follow up with a future plan of action that supports interfaith dialogue and true religious harmony.
