INDONESIA: Growing Islamisation threat to Christian islands

By Eva-Maria Kolmann and John Newton

A map of Indonesia, where Islamisation is reportedly taking place on predominantly Christian islands

Islamisation is increasing in Indonesian islands where Christians are the majority population, according to a bishop from the country.

Bishop Hubertus Leteng of Ruteng expressed his concern about growing Muslim extremism during an interview with Aid to the Church in Need.

Speaking during a visit to the charity's international headquarters near Frankfurt in Germany, he said: “In some places, the political power of Muslims is growing as more and more important positions on the local political level are being held by Muslims.”

And he said the government now had a drive to appoint more Muslim school teachers.

He added: “Increasingly it is being demanded that Church schools offer Islamic religious instruction as soon as a few Muslim students are enrolled.”

The bishop said Christians in his diocese on the island of Flores were resisting these efforts towards Islamisation.

He pointed out that Islamisation was well underway on other predominantly Christian islands, including the Maluku islands.

The bishop said that “religious fanatics” were moving to Flores from islands such as Java, where he claimed that problems with religious extremism were much worse.

But he added that Islamisation was creating tensions within the Muslim population of Indonesia with many rejecting the “Arabisation” of their religion.

Bishop Leteng reported that local Muslims were “resisting increasing radicalisation”.

Islamisation is being largely driven by militants from the Middle East, he said.

The bishop stressed that the Church places great value on promoting mutual respect between Christians and the Muslim community.

He went on to say that the differences between Muslims and non-Muslims in the country are “characterised more by economic segmentation and ethnic rivalries and have more to do with the political system than with the nature of Islam itself”.

The Catholic Church is seeking to raise its profile in Indonesia, particularly in the coastal regions, through its work in education and health.

In the Diocese of Ruteng, almost 674,000 of the 717,000 inhabitants are Catholic. With a population of around 233 million and a Muslim majority of about 80 percent, Indonesia is the world’s most populous Islamic nation. Christians represent a minority of around 11 percent.

Tagged with

• Indonesia
• Inter-faith relations
• Persecution

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