t is important that these efforts in
favor of reconciliation and inter-religious dialogue in the Indonesian archipelago of the Moluccas “do not suffer a set-back because of actions of a few extremists on both sides of the religious divide” both Muslims and Christians. This is a passage of a letter sent in the past days to Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri by the WCC (World Council of Churches), the vastest expression of the ecumenical movement for the unity of Christians.
The Government should also encourage and support peace-building efforts of churches and civil society groups that are endeavoring to promote inter-religious harmony in the region.
In expressing concern over the recent renewed violence in Ambon, administrative center of the Moluccas – resulting since April 25 in the death of at least 33 people and injury of hundreds – the WCC “called on the Indonesian Government to take immediate steps to put an end to the violence in the Moluccas”, which however in the past days appears to have ceased.
In particular, Samuel Kobia, secretary general of the WCC (which unites over 340 Churches in over 100 nations), expressed concern over “the attacks and acts of arson at the Indonesian Christian University in the Malukus that have resulted in the complete destruction of 16 lecture rooms that catered to the faculties of Theology, Civil Engineering, Economics as well as Social and Political Sciences. Priceless collections of books accumulated over many years, including the Maluccana and Idonesiana collections, have been completely gutted as a result of the attack on the University library”.
Also underlining, “according to the reports received by us, much of the damage and spread of violence could have been avoided if the Indonesian Security Forces were vigilant and had taken timely action against the miscreants”. The WCC therefore joins in the appeals already launched by Monsignor Petrus Canisius Mandagi, Catholic Bishop of Ambon, and the moderator of the Protestant Church of the Moluccas, Izak Hendriks, for an immediate intervention by the government of Jakarta to restore peace.
The letter concludes, “The Government should also encourage and support peace-building efforts of churches and civil society groups that are endeavoring to promote inter-religious harmony in the region”. The clashes that broke out on April 25 between a small Christian separatist movement, not recognized by the local Church, and a group of Muslims that uphold an indivisible Indonesia, re-evoked the religious violence that afflicted the Moluccas from January 1999 until Spring of 2002 claiming thousands of lives.
(From MISNA)