A Muslim activist told about 500 Catholics in Jakarta this week that Church efforts for interreligious harmony and tolerance have inspired her.

“I learned from my Catholic friends how to debate. Then I established an interfaith forum to help in the reforestation of Mountain Merapi following last year’s eruption,” said Alissa Qotrunada Wahid, daughter of late president, Abdurrahman Wahid.

She spoke on Wednesday during a nine-day prayer meeting (novena) the Catholic Church is holding from May 24 to June 1 with the theme Together with Mary We Welcome the Fruits of the Spirit.

Wahid said through her Consortium for Greening the Merapi Slopes Area she has united 50 interreligious groups, including nuns and parishes.

The groups planted trees in the Merapi area between February and June.

She also claimed to have brought Catholic youths in Semarang archdiocese together with youths of Nadhlatul Ulama, a conservative Sunni Muslim group.

“I encourage young people to strengthen ties with people of other religions through dialogue,” said Wahid, whose father was also a prominent Muslim cleric.

She also said that she was inspired by the motto of late Jesuit archbishop Albertus Sugiopranata: “To become 100 percent Catholic and 100 percent Indonesian.”

Jesuit Father Franz Magnis Suseno told the meeting that dialogue must start by “knowing ourselves as a minority” and being “sensitive towards neighbors,” foe example  not building outlandish churches.

”As a minority we should adapt to the situation around us,” the lecturer at the Driyarkara School of Philosophy said.

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