Omerta of Church leaders on the human tragedy in Papua
The Silence and Complicity of the Catholic Church in Papua’s Human Rights Crisis: A Critical Examination.
On December 10, 2020—World Human Rights Day—147 Catholic priests from Papua issued a solemn appeal to the Indonesian Bishops’ Conference (Konferensi Waligereja Indonesia, KWI), urging urgent and serious attention to the catastrophic humanitarian situation afflicting their land.
One year later, Papuan Catholic students staged a protest in front of both the Vatican Embassy and KWI offices in Jakarta, demanding, among other things, the retraction of Cardinal Ignatius Suharyo’s unequivocal public endorsement of the Indonesian government’s policies in Papua. This endorsement came amidst persistent and documented human rights violations, including the extrajudicial killing of catechists such as Rufinus Tigau, who was shot by the Indonesian military in 2020 in Intan Jaya.
Nearly three years on, the Catholic Church hierarchy’s response remains one of deafening silence. Ambrosius Mulait, leader of the Papuan Catholic student front, lamented the impotence of both the National Human Rights Commission and the Church, stating:
“We have reported this to the National Human Rights Commission and also the Catholic Church. But they remain silent.”
This silence is particularly telling given the history of the Indonesian bishops’ conduct during the East Timor occupation (1975–1999), where approximately 200,000 predominantly Catholic Timorese were massacred without significant ecclesiastical protest.
The National Human Rights Commission’s inability to act independently is arguably compromised by its financial dependence on the Indonesian government, further entrenching the institutional failure to address abuses in Papua.
The Vatican’s role likewise appears compromised. The incumbent Vatican ambassador in Jakarta has cultivated a reputation for lavishly praising Indonesia’s touted religious tolerance—an image that, upon critical scrutiny, reveals itself as a superficial veneer masking the persistent and systemic discrimination faced by minority religious and ethnic groups.
This dissonance between diplomatic rhetoric and lived realities undermines the credibility of the Holy See’s engagement with Indonesia and calls into question the Vatican’s commitment to advocating for genuine religious freedom and justice within the archipelago.
The anticipated visit of Pope Francis to Indonesia in 2020, which could have been a powerful gesture of solidarity, was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and has not been rescheduled. More striking is Pope Francis’ conspicuous silence on Papua throughout his pontificate, despite the region’s escalating violence and humanitarian crisis.
Meanwhile, military operations have intensified in Papua’s mountainous interior, displacing over 60,000 civilians in recent years, exacerbating famine, and denying education to more than 620,000 school-age children. Yet, Cardinal Suharyo has remained steadfast in his support for the Indonesian military. The cardinal publicly asserts that the Church’s official position aligns with the government’s stance, justified by “international law.” This raises an urgent, critical question: Are extrajudicial killings, land expropriation, and systemic oppression truly safeguarded under international law? The answer is a resounding no.
The Catholic hierarchy in Indonesia exemplifies a tragic failure of pastoral responsibility. They have subordinated their prophetic mission to a nationalist ideology encapsulated by the slogan “100% Catholic 100% Indonesian.” This ideology functions as a tool of complicity, obliging bishops to prioritize allegiance to a repressive state over the defense of their flock. This posture originated under General Suharto’s authoritarian regime and persists despite Indonesia’s formal democratization in 1998. The Church’s proclaimed neutrality serves only as a veil for tacit acceptance of injustice. Instead of advocating for victims, Church leaders rebuke Christians who resist oppression and tolerate the systemic marginalization of minorities.
The Indonesian Catholic Church’s refusal to confront the root causes of Papua’s suffering is not accidental but ideological. At a 2014 meeting with Pacific bishops, Msgr. Leo Laba Ladjar, then Chair of the Indonesian Papuan Bishops’ Council, notoriously denied any serious human rights violations in Papua. Yet, independent research estimates the death toll of Papuans from military violence since the 1960s at approximately 500,000—a figure that demands ecclesiastical reckoning rather than denial.
Cardinal Suharyo’s own admission that Papua’s problems are “complex” and “cannot be resolved in the short term” obscures a much simpler reality: Papua remains under colonial occupation. The Church, rather than challenging this colonialism, has frequently acted as its apologist, perpetuating a narrative that masks the violence, dispossession, and cultural genocide perpetrated by the Indonesian state. Health and education initiatives, while valuable, serve as palliative measures that fail to address the fundamental political injustice.
The consequences of this ecclesial silence are stark. Indigenous Papuans now comprise only about 40% of the population within Papua provinces—less than 1% of Indonesia’s total population. The demographic erosion echoes warnings by Father Frans Lieshout, one of the first Dutch missionaries in the Baliem Valley, who predicted the potential extermination of the Papuan people akin to the fate of Australia’s Aboriginal peoples.
Furthermore, in certain instances, the Indonesian Catholic hierarchy has actively supported economic predation on Papuan customary lands. In Merauke, over 925,000 hectares of forest have been lost, and 2.65 million hectares converted for “development” projects, with the complicity of church authorities. The current Bishop of Merauke, Msgr. Canisius Mandagi, has been accused of endorsing the corporate exploitation by the Korindo group in exchange for financial aid—demonstrating a morally compromised Church that prioritizes institutional wealth over indigenous rights and ecological stewardship.
Such critiques are not without internal voices. Augustinian priest Bernard Baru accuses the Indonesian Church hierarchy of “manipulating the teachings of Jesus to justify their power, comfort, and status,” failing to incarnate the suffering Christ in contemporary Papuan realities. This institutional apathy raises a fundamental question about the Church’s identity and mission in Indonesia.
Can the Indonesian Catholic Church still be considered a credible moral and spiritual protector of the oppressed? Or has it become an instrument of state power, complicit in injustice?
The Church’s vocation demands that it be the voice of the voiceless and the defender of the defenseless. Preaching from the pulpit while remaining neutral in the face of persecution amounts to theological abdication. As Jesus declared in Matthew 5:13,
“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?”
A Church that loses its prophetic saltiness ceases to serve its divine mandate and becomes irrelevant, vulnerable to being “thrown out and trampled underfoot.”
In conclusion, the Indonesian Catholic Church’s persistent silence and complicity in Papua’s human rights crisis constitute a profound ethical failure. It is incumbent upon ecclesiastical leaders to repudiate nationalist cooptation, confront state violence, and embrace a prophetic solidarity with the indigenous peoples of Papua—without which the Church risks losing its soul and betraying the Gospel it proclaims.
A Moral Call for Institutional Conversion
The Indonesian Catholic Church stands at a crossroads. It can no longer remain silent or complicit in the face of the suffering endured by the indigenous peoples of Papua and other marginalized minority groups across the archipelago. To honor its sacred vocation, the Church must undergo a profound institutional conversion—one rooted in truth, repentance, and courageous solidarity with all who are oppressed.
This conversion demands that Church leaders reject any ideology that prioritizes nationalist loyalty over the Gospel’s call to justice and mercy. It requires a fearless confrontation with the reality of state violence, economic exploitation, systemic discrimination, and cultural erasure inflicted upon Papuans and minority communities alike. The Church must reclaim its prophetic voice to defend the dignity of every human being, especially those marginalized and silenced.
Failing to act is not only a betrayal of the Gospel but a denial of the Church’s very identity as the salt of the earth and light of the world.
True conversion is a call to live out the faith with integrity—standing resolutely with those who suffer, challenging systems of oppression, and fostering a community where justice, peace, and reconciliation flourish.
Only through such a radical transformation can the Indonesian Catholic Church hope to restore its credibility, renew its spiritual mission, and embody the love and justice that Christ commands of all his followers.
The time for institutional conversion is now. Papua, its indigenous peoples, minority groups, and the very soul of the Church depend on it.
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