Posted on 12/09/2021 7:21:54 PM PST by marshmallow
Bogor mayor holds a groundbreaking ceremony for a Protestant group at the center of a 15-year freedom of worship row
A groundbreaking ceremony has been held in Indonesia’s West Java province to kick off the construction of a new Protestant church which local officials hope will end a religious dispute that has dragged on for more than a decade.
Bogor City mayor Bima Arya officiated at the ceremony for the Christian Church in Indonesia (GKI) Pengadilan, an affiliate of GKI Yasmin, on Dec. 5.
Arya believes the construction of the church will end a dispute that began in 2007 when local Muslims objected to the presence of the Protestants and pressured local authorities into closing the original church and revoking its permit.
The move provoked a legal dispute that reached the Supreme Court, which sided with the churchgoers and whose ruling to reopen the original church was ignored by local authorities.
In the meantime, congregation members have staged regular services outside the presidential palace in a bid to get President Joko Widodo to intervene in the dispute.
To settle the dispute, Arya donated 1,668 square meters of land to GKI Pengadilan in March of this year and on Aug. 8 he issued a permit to build a new church about a kilometer from where the original stood.
(Excerpt) Read more at ucanews.com ...
How long will it be before the local peaceful Muslims burn this church to the ground? I’ll put the over/under at three months.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.