Priests in West Papua: Guardians of Life, Resistance, and Hope

Being a priest in West Papua isn't about preaching or carrying out rituals. 

It's about a fierce, unwavering stand for the lives of the indigenous people, their rights, their very existence under the brutal occupation of Indonesia. This isn't just religion – it’s revolution. And this revolution costs lives.

One such priest—let's call him Father Alphons to protect his identity—recently shared with me the horrifying reality of his vocation. Why the secrecy? Because several of his fellow priests have died under mysterious and deeply suspicious circumstances, with many fearing the invisible hand of the Indonesian military. 

In West Papua, truth is not just inconvenient—it is dangerous. Telling the truth means exposing the brutal, ongoing occupation that the world has chosen to ignore. It means daring to speak of massacres that never make the headlines, of villages razed in silence, of people who vanish without a trace. It means naming the agents of terror, and refusing to let lies pass as liberation. 

But in a land where power is enforced at gunpoint and silence is the rule of survival, speaking the truth is a revolutionary act. It can cost you your freedom. It can cost you your family. And far too often, it can cost you your life. In West Papua, truth doesn’t just set you free—it gets you buried. And still, there are those who speak it.

Since 1963, the Indonesian army has been suffocating West Papua under a false banner of sovereignty—a brutal occupation disguised as national unity. What the world sees as integration is, in reality, domination. Under this manufactured claim of authority, the Indonesian state has waged a relentless campaign to erase not just political resistance, but the very identity of the West Papuan people. 

They have targeted the land, the language, the traditions, and the sacred symbols of culture. This is not just colonization—it is cultural annihilation. They have desecrated sacred grounds, silenced native voices, and painted West Papuan history over with a nationalist lie.

Even the Church has not been spared. Priests are watched, churches raided, and those who dare to defend their people from the pulpit risk their lives. What we are witnessing is not the development of a region, but the slow, calculated erasure of a nation.

The Making of a Priest – And a Rebel

Father Alphons didn’t just find his calling — it was forced upon him by the gut-wrenching cries of his people. As a teenager, he was drawn to priests who lived for the poor, not for comfort, not for power. His priesthood was confirmed, not in a seminary alone, but in the fires of struggle. He witnessed the horrors firsthand, like the Abepura incident of 2011 when Indonesian forces shot innocent West Papuans peacefully demanding independence. This wasn’t some isolated incident; this was state-sponsored violence. A systematic campaign to break the will of a people, the very soul of a land.

For the Christian majority in West Papua, the Church is the last stronghold of hope. But even this refuge is under siege.

The War Against Christianity

As Father Alphons’ work as a priest deepened, he uncovered a chilling truth: the violence against West Papuans isn’t just military; it’s ideological. It’s a strategy of forced assimilation masked as ‘development.’ The Indonesian government is systematically trying to erase the West Papuans from their land, replacing them with settlers and eradicating their cultural and religious identity. Those who are impoverished and desperate are coerced into converting to Islam for survival, as government assistance comes only to those who comply.

But that’s not all. The foundation of Christianity in West Papua is under siege. Catholic schools are being deprived of resources and forced to close. Teachers are abandoning their posts under pressure, and foreign donations to local churches are being blocked by the Indonesian government. The pattern is undeniable: Christianity is being systematically dismantled.

A Call to the Church: Stand or Fall

In the face of this grotesque tragedy, Father Alphons delivers a stark challenge: the Church must speak out. It's not enough to pray for peace in West Papua; we must confront the root of the evil — the violent, unyielding occupation by Indonesia. Six decades of state-sanctioned terror have birthed armed conflict. The Church cannot remain a passive observer while the blood of innocents stains the land. It’s a betrayal of the very faith that Christ preached.

Faith in Christ is not about empty rituals and distant hopes — it’s about living justice, truth, and peace in the here and now. If the Church refuses to stand for the oppressed, then what is it even standing for?

Father Alphons’ voice is not just a plea — it’s a command. For the Church to truly be the Church, it must defend the rights of the oppressed, fight for the truth, and boldly call for peace in the face of the relentless Indonesian occupation. The time for silence is over. The time for action is now.