Protesters gather in North Bekasi, Indonesia on Aug. 10. More than a thousand people rallied to urge local authorities to revoke a church's building permit. (Photo supplied)
Catholic leaders in Indonesia have welcomed an announcement that the government will review legislation that critics say restricts constitutional protections to religious freedoms.
"The most important thing is that freedom of religion and of worship guaranteed in the constitution must not be narrowed with regulations that can create problems," Father Guido Suprapto, the Indonesian bishops' laity commission secretary, told ucanews.com.
Father Suprapto made his remarks in response to a Nov. 9 statement by Indonesian Home Affairs Minister Tjahjo Kumolo, which said his office will review the legislation in coordination with Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin.
The legislation, enacted in 2006, laid out onerous requirements to build places of worship. This has particularly impacted religious minorities in Muslim-majority communities. Church officials, for example, are obligated to provide a list of names and signatures of 90 worshippers and get signed support from at least 60 local residents along with the approval of a village head.
The legislation provoked a spate of church demolitions this year in Aceh province, where authorities took down places of worship that did not possess required permits. In one incident, a group of Muslim hard-liners torched a Protestant church.
"If a place of worship is already built but has no building permit yet, the local government should facilitate the issue of the building permit. But they fail to understand this," Father Suprapto said Nov. 10.
"We don't need [this legislation] as the constitution has accommodated every citizen’s freedom of religion and of worship. It would be good if we return to the constitution," Father Suprapto said.
Kumolo said in his statement that the legislation should be reviewed and, if necessary, revised.
Intolerant groups
Hendrikus Masan Hena, spokesman of St. John the Baptist Parish in Parung, West Java, said even if the legislation is revoked, there may still be issues. "If the requirements are revoked, intolerant groups will still find excuses to reject the establishment of places of worships," he told ucanews.com.
The parish, which was created in 2000 and now has around 3,000 Catholics, submitted permit requirements to the local government in 2009 and 2011.
"The condition is that intolerant groups say that our parish [applied for building permits]. We did … but why doesn't the government respond?" he asked.
