The 7th-century Pact of Umar forbade the construction of new churches or repair of existing ones. The pact is in the spirit of Qur'an 9:29, which commands that non-Muslims "feel themselves subdued" -- a fundamental reason why incidents such as this are neither new nor isolated. "A thousand Islamic extremists, including women and children, storm a Church near Jakarta," by Mathias Hariyadi for AsiaNews, December 18:
Jakarta (AsiaNews) - Last night a crowd of angry Muslims, including women and children, attacked the Church of Saint Albert, in Bekasi Regency, about 30 kilometres east of Jakarta. The situation is now under control but the local Catholic community is afraid of an escalation before Christmas.
Kurniadi is a member of the committee charged with the church's construction. He told AsiaNews, "Suddenly, a bunch of bikers arrived in the area where the church stands." They had banners and kerosene tanks. "We don't know why we were attacked," he said.
Kristina Maria Renteana, who was present when the Church was attacked, said, "The mob had about a thousand people," not only men, but "women and children" as well.
Running around in cars and motorbikes is a tradition for Indonesian Muslims during "national celebrations."
Last night was the first day of the Islamic New Year, the start of the month of Muharram. Local sources told AsiaNews, on condition of anonymity, that the "crowd was made of people from Tarumajaya and Babelan", two villages in North Bekasi where Islamic extremists are a majority.
Saint Albert's Church, a chapel that is part of Saint Arnold' Church in Bekasi, was not yet finished. Started on 11 May 2008, it had the required building permit for places of worship and was 80 per cent complete. Workers had finished the walls and the roof. Only ceramic floor tiles had to be laid.
Although not yet finished, it was set to host Christmas Mass for the local Christian community.
Now it is damaged but police and government authorities have urged the parish priest, Fr Joseph Jagadwa, to go ahead with the Mass anyway.
2 comments:
Any form of religious extremism is un acceptable, and is a direct result of blind faith aimed at people with limited or little education by people who know how to control the minds of the masses. I think that all forms of religion should be banned to the homes and all churches, and all other gathering places torn down, Anyone not doing so will be incarcerated. Get rid of organized religion and make it taught in the home only.
I think that this topic has been a talk of the town and I hope that the incident which took doesn't affects the living of the christian people's in the indonesia.This kind of religious extremism is really not acceptable by any of the religion or by mankind.
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