Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Jakarta (Fides Service) – The Bishops’ Conference of Indonesia recently inaugurated a Crisis and Reconciliation Service CRS to monitor events in possible areas of violence including Aceh, Moluccas, Sulawesi, Papua, Borneo. The CRS, directed by Jesuit Father Ignazio Ismartono also chairman of the Bishops’ Commission for Interreligious Dialogue, has voiced growing concern for a situation of rising tension in Flores, home to many of Indonesia’s Catholics.
Some weeks ago a local priest Frans Amanuen, a member of the Justice and Peace Commission of the local Church, publicly accused a civil leader in east Flores Felix Fernandez of corruption. By way of reply Fernandez took the priest to court. Father Amanuen was found guilty and given four months in prison (punishment suspended). The episode brought fierce public reaction. The people sided with the priest confirming corruption in the provincial government. A few weeks ago furious crowds set fire to Laratuka Law Court, an act of violence seriously condemned by the local Church. “The episode led to deployment of more security forces– Father Ismartono told Fides – and an increase in tension which could be exploited by provocateurs to trigger open conflict involving the Catholic community. We will do all we can to prevent the situation from degenerating, to restore calm and promote reconciliation”. Archbishop Longinus Da Cunha of Ende and many other leading figures in the local Church are working to dissolve the tension.
Father Ismartono, who visits crisis areas regularly, affirmed that “the causes of conflict in Indonesia are not religious: serious investigation must be made to discover the roots. For example the clashes in the Moluccas were instigated by provocateurs and sectors of the Indonesian army ”. (PA) (Fides Service 5/12/2003 lines 22 words 280)
