Jakarta (Fides Service) - Poor Muslims in the diocese of Manado in Sulawesi in eastern Indonesia will be given free medical treatment at hospitals and health centres run by local Christians, Catholics and Protestants.
This is a signal of better relations between Protestants and Muslims who in recent years in the nearby Moluccas, and also on Sulawesi, engaged in bloody clashes in which 15,000 were killed and half a million people were made homeless.
Fr John Lengkong, secretary of the diocese, says the local Church is sponsoring free medical and health care from April 30 to May 9 in the seven main towns of the diocese. Many poor people have already requested medical examinations and operations forming long waiting lists at Christian medical centres. One protestant doctor in Manado says "this is a wonderful opportunity for the poor who otherwise cannot afford treatment or operations".
The Catholic diocese of Manado has proclaimed 2003 a year of "Love not Violence" with a series of initiatives to promote reconciliation and mutual solidarity to re-establish lasting harmony in society which still bears the wounds of the conflict. Events planned include charity activities, ecumenical and interreligious meetings. The initiative has met with satisfaction on the part of local Protestants and Muslims; both communities have promised full support. Manado diocese has a area of 90,000 sq. km., with a population of 4 million, of whom 124,000 are Catholics. Muslims are the majority. PA (Fides Service 29/4/2003 EM lines 23 Words: 256)