PAPUA, A CHRISTIAN LAND?

Soekarno (center), Indonesia's first president with Msgr De Jonghe d'Ardoye, Vatican ambassador (left) and Msgr Soegijapranata, Indonesia's first native bishop (right).

The foundation of the Indonesian State was inseparable from the contribution of its Christians. The strength of the Indonesian government since the leadership of Soekarno to Jokowi cannot be separated from the role of several local Christian figures.

Sadly, the Indonesian state only gives privileges to Islam as the majority religion in the archipelago. This is clearly visible from the ease of building mosques compared to other places of worship. In addition, there are a number of laws and facilities created to promote Islam.

There are laws regarding the pilgrimage to Mecca, regulations on zakat or "Islamic charity", and guarantees of halal products. There are also department of Religion, Islamic State Universities, and Islamic religious courts. State spending, both national and regional, used for Islamic affairs is very large. The Ministry of Religion's budget is twice larger than that of the Ministry of Transportation.

Papua, a predominantly Christian province that was annexed by Indonesia in the 1960s, has not been spared from the Islamic politics of the Indonesian government. We can now see mosques in a number of government offices, police and army headquarters. The passing of the anti-pornography law in 2008, initiated by hard-line Islamic groups, prompted the formation of a series of Sharia-based laws that gave the impression that Indonesia was indeed an Islamic country.

The Indonesian government protects Islam by preventing other religions from developing. This is proven, where permits to build places of worship for non-Muslims are made difficult. Meanwhile, since Indonesia's independence in 1945, more than 2400 churches have been destroyed (source: Foker NGO). There has never been any firm action by the government against the vandalization of churches.

At the beginning of Indonesia's annexation of Papua, there was only one mosque in Jayapura, Papua's main city. Today there are more than 260! In 2055, Papua will celebrate the bicentenary of the arrival of the evangelists Ottow and Geissler. The question is, will Papua remain a Christian land? Or will this become just a memory?