Youth group 'seal' Catholic school<\/p>\n
Urip Hudiono and Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
A group calling itself the Islamic Youth Front set up a blockade
\nat a private Catholic school on Jl. Raden Saleh in Ciledug,
\nTangerang, on Sunday, after becoming enraged that the building
\nwas \"inappropriately being used to hold services for another
\nreligion\".<\/p>\n
Another organization known by the same acronym, FPI or the
\nIslamic Defenders' Front, denied having formal links with the
\nyouth group, called the Front Pemuda Islam.<\/p>\n
The local Catholic community uses the school building for
\nchurch services on weekends.<\/p>\n
The group's action could disrupt classes this week at the Sang
\nTimur Catholic school, which is owned by the Sang Timur
\nFoundation. The foundation operates the school, which includes
\nclasses from elementary to high school level as well as a school
\nfor children with disabilities.<\/p>\n
Secretary of the local Saint Bernadette parish, Eko Pranowo,
\nsaid that Catholic families from six districts of Ciledug, Karang
\nTengah, Larangan, Pinang, Pondok Aren and Serpong, had been using
\nthe building on Saturdays and Sundays for mass over the past 12
\nyears.<\/p>\n
He explained that they still had to use the building because
\nthey were unable to build a church at a nearby site.<\/p>\n
\"We were granted a building permit for the site last year, but
\nstill do not have enough funds to build it,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Eko said the same group of youths had held two other
\ndemonstrations in August, after the Tangerang office of the
\nMinistry of Religious Affairs sent the parish a letter in May,
\ntelling them to stop using the building for religious services.<\/p>\n
\"The newly elected subdistrict chief in the area had also
\nheeded their calls and forbade us to hold mass in the building,\"
\nEko said. The former subdistrict chief, however, had given them
\npermission to hold religious services in the building.<\/p>\n
\"But we have not been given a solution on where we can hold
\nour religious services, and we were never asked to talk about the
\nmatter.\"<\/p>\n
Eko also criticized the Islamic Youth Front's act of
\nphysically barring all entry to the building. \"Is it not the
\nbasic right of citizens in this country to worship freely
\naccording to their beliefs?\"<\/p>\n
A representative of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) denied
\nhaving any formal links with the youth group. Cleric Awid,
\nsecretary of the FPI's Jakarta chapter, said that FPI only gave
\nmoral support to the Islamic Youth Front of Karang Tengah
\nsubdistrict.<\/p>\n
\"The local youths came to us, asking for support for their
\nprotest demonstration on Sunday. We were not involved in the
\nclosure of the Sang Timur building, even though we did send some
\nof our members to show our support,\" Awid said.<\/p>\n
He added that the youths told FPI that they were upset because
\nthe Sang Timur school was used as a place for Catholic mass.<\/p>\n
\"They told us they had contacted the police to settle the
\nmatter, but the police ignored them so they asked for our
\nsupport,\" he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/youth-group-seal-catholic-school-1447893297",
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