Tag: Joko Widodo

Concerns about tolerant Indonesia: 3 more churches closed

March 22, 2017 Indonesia Ahok, Bandung, Bekasi, Bogor, Churches, GKI Yasmin, Indonesia, Islamic extremism, JAD, Java, Joko Widodo, Santa Clara, Saudi Arabia

Church members of the Indonesian Christian Church (GKI) of Yasmin Bogor and the Batak Christian Church (HKBP) of Filadelfia Bekasi, along with inter-faith human rights activists and students of the Jakarta Art Institute, held the 100th open-air Sunday Service in front of State Palace in September 2015 after their church buildings were sealed in 2010. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Indonesian authorities in Bogor, West Java, have banned three churches from holding religious activities. According to UCANews the Methodist Church Indonesia, Huria Batak Protestant Church and a house used by Catholics for catechism classes were ordered to close their doors. Local authorities said they could not guarantee the safety of the . . . Read More

Injured Indonesian boy, 4, ‘ashamed’ by wounds after 17th operation since November church attack

March 14, 2017 Indonesia Aceh, Bogor, Islamic State, Java, Joko Widodo, Kalimantan, Samarinda, Sumatra

Just over four months ago, on 13 November 2016, a two-year-old girl died after suffering 75% burns during a bomb attack on a church in Indonesia. Three other young children were also injured – Anita (also two), Trinity (three) and Alvaro (four) – during the attack on Oikumene Church in . . . Read More

Indonesia President blames democracy for ills

March 2, 2017 Indonesia Churches, Indonesia, Joko Widodo, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono

Indonesia’s President has blamed rising religious intolerance in the country on democracy. Joko Widodo said democracy has “gone too far” and that “political freedom paved the way for extreme political practices”. Human Rights Watch’s Deputy Director for the Asia region, Phelim Kine, wrote that while Indonesia “unquestionably has a problem . . . Read More

‘I’d prefer if my leader is a Muslim’

February 13, 2017 Indonesia Ahok, Blasphemy, Indonesia, Islamic Defenders Front, Islamic extremism, Jakarta, Joko Widodo, Sharia

Tens of thousands of Muslims have taken to the streets of Jakarta in recent days in an attempt to persuade Indonesians not to re-elect the capital city’s Christian governor, who stands accused of blasphemy. Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (better known as “Ahok”) is accused of “misusing” a Qur’anic verse (which, some . . . Read More

Indonesian church closed for years told: you can reopen if mosque allowed on your land

February 10, 2017 Indonesia Aceh, Bogor, GKI Yasmin, Indonesia, Jakarta, Java, Joko Widodo, Muhammadiyah, Nahdlatul Ulama, Sharia

UPDATE (10 Feb, 2017): An Indonesian church closed for years by order of the local mayor has been told it can reopen if a mosque is also allowed on its premises. The GKI Yasmin Church in Bogor, 60km south of Jakarta, had resorted to holding open-air services outside the Presidential . . . Read More

Extremism inside Indonesia’s largest Islamic group

February 2, 2017 Indonesia Ahok, Blasphemy, Indonesia, Islamic Defenders Front, Islamic extremism, Joko Widodo, Nahdlatul Ulama

After Indonesian Christian leaders met the country’s President to plead for action against the country’s Islamic Defenders Front, there are now fears that the largest Islamic organisation in Indonesia may also be becoming increasingly conservative in its views. The Christian leaders told President Joko Widodo that the Islamic Defenders Front . . . Read More

Indonesia Christians seek action against Islamists

January 25, 2017 Indonesia Aceh, Ahok, Blasphemy, Indonesia, Islamic Defenders Front, Joko Widodo, Minorities, Sharia

Indonesia’s Christian leaders have urged the country’s president, Joko Widodo, to take action against a radical Islamist group. This comes after a petition called for the disbandment of the group, which is accused of being responsible for a series of violent attacks against Christians. The Christian leaders said the Islamic . . . Read More

2-year-old girl dead after Indonesia church attack

November 15, 2016 Indonesia Aceh, Bogor, Borneo, GKI Yasmin, Indonesia, Joko Widodo, Kalimantan, Muhammadiyah, Nahdlatul Ulama, Samarinda, Sumatra

A two-year-old girl has died after suffering 75% burns following an attack by an alleged Islamic extremist on a church in Borneo, Indonesia, reports ABC News. Ade Intan Marbun was one of four young children injured after a man – apparently identified by police as a 32 year old ex-convict . . . Read More

Indonesian church holds 100th service outside Presidential palace

September 24, 2015 Indonesia Aceh, Bogor, GKI Yasmin, Indonesia, Jakarta, Java, Joko Widodo, Muhammadiyah, Nahdlatul Ulama

At the heart of the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, in the megacity of Jakarta, Indonesia, a church this Sunday will hold its 100th open-air Sunday morning service next to a main road – because a city mayor is afraid to insist that a Supreme Court order is carried out. . . . Read More

Indonesian Islam to model harmony

February 20, 2015 Indonesia Churches, Indonesia, Islamic extremism, Joko Widodo

The Indonesian Muslim Congress, meeting under new President Joko Widodo, has re-stated that Indonesian Islam could serve as a model, at the international level, to present a “harmonious society” in which Muslims live and work peacefully side by side with believers of other religions. President Widodo said “Indonesia is a . . . Read More

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