Indonesian Church resolves to
be catalyst of unity, interreligious brotherhood
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| Indonesians from various religious backgrounds pray for victims of a bomb attack on a church (AFP) |
The Bishops' Conference of Indonesia (KWI) concluded its
annual meeting on Thursday with a message, drawing inspiration from the Abu
Dhabi document and the country's Pancasila principles to throw light on the
current situation in the world’s most populous Muslim nation.
By Robin Gomes
The Catholic Church of Indonesia has resolved to open itself
by leaving its comfort zone and being present amid society to strengthen
inter-faith brotherhood and coexistence.
“The Church must spread peace and benevolence, respect human
rights, cultivate dialogue, promote equality and justice, improve public
health, raise awareness of scientific developments and maintain harmonious
coexistence in diversity,” wrote Indonesia’s Bishops in the message released
during the annual meeting of the Bishops' Conference of Indonesia (KWI), held
in Bandung, which concluded on Thursday.
The message, signed by KWI President, Cardinal Ignatius
Suharyo of Jakarta and General Secretary, Bishop Antonius Subianto Bunjamin of
Bandung, came after several days of intense study of the theme, “Human
fraternity for a peaceful Indonesia”.
Abu Dhabi document
The Bishops particularly focussed on the Abu Dhabi document
entitled “Human fraternity for world peace and living together”, signed jointly
by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam Ahmed el-Tayeb in Abu Dhabi in February.
Some Muslim and Catholic scholars contributed to the analysis, which the
Bishops listened to with interest.
The bishops examined the “existence of extremist movements
in Indonesia” in the light of the Abu Dhabi Document”, to “find opportunities
to strengthen brotherhood among human beings”.
The Pancasila
The Indonesian Bishops expressed esteem for the Pancasila,
the 5 principles that form the philosophical and political ideology of the
Indonesian state and ensure unity amidst religious pluralism in an officially
secular system.
In this perspective, the Catholic Church affirmed its
commitment to “participate in the promotion, struggle and realization of
fraternity as shared prosperity”. “Diversity is a necessity and a divine gift
that must be cultivated and developed with an attitude of mutual acceptance,
respect and mutual cooperation”, the message said.
Brotherhood and coexistence
The bishops wrote that human fraternity must bring goodness
in human life in all its dimensions and be a witness of faith in God who unites
divided hearts and them to understand each other, work together and live like
brothers.
“Coexistence as the basis for realizing human fraternity
does not only mean finding common points but it is the willingness to accept
and appreciate the differences in beliefs and religious teachings”, the message
noted, adding that the current challenge of the Indonesian nation is to
“contain extremism that often generates acts of terrorism”.
Agents of fraternity and common good
The bishops urged the government to “adopt wise policies
based only on the values of Pancasila, such as humanity, unity, wisdom and
justice to reduce social inequalities, prevent conflicts among the children, put
an end to forms of prolonged violence, block the rate of environmental damage,
give equal opportunities for access to resources and create a more dignified
system of coexistence”.
Indonesia’s bishops also urged religious leaders,
intellectuals, artists, media experts, economists and all the people in their
respective sectors of life “to find ways to revive human values for the
realization of public welfare, through human fraternity”.
“We will only be able to live peacefully in this country if
all the parties, without exception, always strive to join hands and work
together for the common good”, the Bishops stressed. (Source: Fides)
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