JAKARTA: The Indonesian Religious Affairs Ministry is breaking new ground with its first-ever Christmas celebration, which officials say sends a historic message of religious inclusivity.
Speaking at an interfaith walk at the ministry complex in Jakarta on Sunday (Nov 23), Religious Affairs Minister Nasaruddin Umar, affiliated with Indonesia’s largest Islamic organisation, Nahdlatul Ulama, announced the ministry would hold its own Christmas festivities this year, a first in its decades-long history.
“All this time, Christians and Catholics have celebrated Christmas, but we have never held one inside the Religious Affairs Ministry,” Nasaruddin said, as quoted by kompas.com.
Director General of Christian Community Guidance Jeane Marie Tulung said the celebration would be limited to the ministry’s internal environment, distinguishing it from the annual national Christmas celebrations.
“To date, the ministry’s Christian Community Guidance has only held our own Christmas celebrations [within our group],” she told The Jakarta Post on Monday, declining to comment on the same thing about the ministry’s Catholic Community Guidance.
As for the national Christmas events, she said they would unfold across multiple regions following the Jakarta kick-off, featuring seminars, services, book launches, social programs and a main celebration scheduled for Dec 22.
“This year’s Christmas series flows from city to city and from community to community, carrying messages of love, peace and brotherhood to strengthen religious moderation and national harmony,” Jeane said, as quoted in the ministry’s website.
The move comes amid continued concerns about religious intolerance in Indonesia, where issues surrounding Christmas greetings and joint celebrations with Muslims remain sensitive in the country’s Muslim-majority context.
In March 1981, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) issued a controversial fatwa on Joint Christmas Celebrations, prohibiting Muslims from participating in Christmas events to “maintain religious harmony and simultaneously purify the beliefs of each religion.”
Four decades later, the situation in some areas has worsened, with restrictions on Christmas celebrations for Christians in regions deemed highly intolerant toward religious minorities.
One notable example was the 2019 ban on Christmas celebrations in Dharmasraya regency in West Sumatra.
Countless churches have also been sealed under the pretext of lacking permits, due in part to the notorious joint regulation (SKB) from the Religious Affairs and Home Ministries on the construction of places of worship, which makes it difficult for congregations to meet administrative requirements, including obtaining approval from 60 surrounding residents.
Calls are growing for the government to take concrete steps to address the ongoing crisis of religious intolerance in pluralistic Indonesia.
The Religious Affairs Ministry’s decision to hold an internal Christmas celebration is seen as a positive move.
Siti Kholisoh, managing director of the religious freedom watchdog Wahid Foundation, praised the initiative but emphasised that sustained efforts are needed to tackle intolerance nationwide.
“This step reinforces the message that the state is a shared space for all citizens,” she said.
“But moving forward, further efforts are needed, including public education, engagement with vulnerable and minority groups and expanding dialogue to deepen diversity literacy.”
Catholic priest Hans Jeharut of the Indonesian Bishops Conference (KWI) also welcomed the ministry’s internal celebration, noting that it complements national Christmas events organiSed with KWI and the Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI).
“We appreciate this effort as a way to show that the ministry belongs to all religions in the republic,” Hans told the Post on Monday.
He added that the ministry’s initiative should prompt a more “concrete response to various acts of intolerance, prohibitions, obstructions and persecution of adherents of [minority] religions, such as the ongoing difficulty in obtaining church building permits in certain areas.” - The Jakarta Post/ANN
