DEPOK, Indonesia — Church members in Depok, West Java, are unable to use their church building after the mayor, citing protests from area Muslims, revoked a permit issued in 1998.
Under a joint ministerial decree issued in 1969 and revised in 2006, all religious groups in Indonesia must apply for permits to establish and operate places of worship.
In 2007, members of a Muslim solidarity group from the Cinere area damaged the boundary hedge and posted banners on the walls of the nearly finished Batak Christian Protestant Church building, said Betty Sitompul, manager of the building project.
Mayor Nur Mahmudi Ismail asked the church to cease construction temporarily to appease the protestors. After church leaders and the Muslim group vied for a favorable ruling from the mayor for more than a year, he revoked the permit March 27 on grounds of preserving “interfaith harmony.”
Pastor Simon Todingallo, head of the Christian Synod in Depok, said the decision breached regulations of the joint ministerial decree and resulted from the pressure of a small minority opposed to a church in the area.
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