Christmas peaceful in Jakarta amid tight security<\/p>\n
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Christmas services in churches across the capital proceeded
\npeacefully on Saturday evening and Sunday morning as police and
\nreligious groups secured the events.<\/p>\n
At Saint Yoseph church in Matraman, East Jakarta, where a bomb
\nwent off in front on Christmas Eve 2000 and killed three people,
\naround 5,000 people attended the Christmas celebration. The 2000
\nterror attacks on churches -- most in Jakarta -- killed 19 people
\nand injured dozens of others.<\/p>\n
\"We pray that the Divine Light of Christmas dispel darkness
\nand suffering caused by wars, natural disasters, evictions, lay-
\noffs, unemployment and drug abuse,\" congregation members said,
\nreading out a prayer from the program.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of thousands of people were affected by the tsunami
\nthat killed more than 130,000 people in Banda Aceh and Nias on
\nDec. 26, 2004, while the recent fuel price increases have forced
\ncompanies to lay off tens of thousands of workers.<\/p>\n
City police deployed around 17,000 officers to guard more than
\n1,200 churches and strategic locations in Greater Jakarta. They
\nhad earlier received intelligence reports suggesting terrorist
\ngroups were out to avenge the death of top terrorist suspect
\nMalaysian Azahari bin Hussin, killed by police in Batu, Malang,
\nin early November.<\/p>\n
\"I am not afraid to attend the mass since I don't want to bow
\ndown to fears of terror. If I don't go, they (the terrorists)
\nwill win,\" said a churchgoer, Imam, 30, a resident of Salemba in
\nCentral Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Cecilia Sandra, a resident of Cawang in East Jakarta, said she
\nand her husband were still scared by threat of bombings and had
\ndecided to attend Christmas mass at the Kristus Raja church in
\nPejompongan in Central Jakarta instead of at the nearer Saint
\nAntonius church.<\/p>\n
\"I don't think that terrorists will blow up churches located
\nclose to residential areas,\" she said.<\/p>\n
\"Thanks be to God, this Christmas has gone peacefully,\" she
\nsaid. Pastor Susilo Wijoyo, who led the mass, encouraged the
\ncongregation not to be afraid because their lives were in the
\nhands of God.<\/p>\n
Members of several community and religious groups also helped
\nsecure celebrations at the Immanuel Church in Gambir, Central
\nJakarta and at the Jakarta Cathedral.<\/p>\n
\"We welcome their help. They have been placed to ensure the
\nsecurity around our church's neighborhoods as the police handle
\nsecurity in the churches,\" Immanuel Church Christmas committee
\nchairman Hary Suhendar said.<\/p>\n
At the century-old Jakarta Cathedral in Central Jakarta,
\naround 10,000 churchgoers also attended a solemn mass. The
\nmanagement of the Istiqlal Grand Mosque across the street also
\nhelped out, lending the church its parking lot.<\/p>\n
Jakarta Cathedral pastor Wisnu Murti said the message of the
\nChristmas Eve's sermons focused on the importance of believers
\nbringing peace into family life.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/christmas-peaceful-in-jakarta-amid-tight-security-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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