Jakarta Globe September 26, 2012
After more than ten years of holding worship service in schools and private homes, the congregation of the Santo Yohanes Maria Vianney Catholic Church will soon have their own building.
Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo attended the official groundbreaking on Tuesday at the 6,000 square meter plot in Bambuapus, Cipayung, East Jakarta.
“All the requirements to get permit have been complete,” Fauzi told Beritajakarta.com. “If the residents keep their commitment to maintain diversity, this [church] will be the adhesive. Hopefully Jakarta will be more prosperous and its will residents keep on living in harmony.”
The church began meeting in 1996 at a kindergarten before moving to the homes of members of the congregation. Local residents opposed the regular service, prompting the community to move Sunday service from house-to-house for years.
In 2007, the church filed a permit to construct a house of worship on a plot of land they already owned in East Jakarta. But according to JW Wirawan, the head of a committee for the church’s construction, it took five years for the application to get granted.
A permit for the construction of a church cannot be approved in Indonesia without signatures showing support from members of the community. It took five years to gather enough signatures to receive the permit.
But some local residents were still opposed to the construction of this church. As city officials spoke at the groundbreaking, a banner rejecting the church’s construction hung near the site on Tuesday.
“We want to complete all the administration requirements as well as [have] no problems with the society,” Wirawan told Kompas.com. “We have informed residents, but it is impossible to get full support.”
Several churches have faced opposition from community members and local governments in Indonesia. Both GKI Yasmin, in Bogor, and HKBP Filadelfia, in Bekasi, were granted building permits but were forced to close by the local government.
wo 26 sep 2012 - 7:34