Catholic adherents establish solidarity forum
Catholic adherents establish solidarity forum
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Indonesian Catholic society declared on Saturday the
establishment of the Democratic Solidarity of Indonesian
Catholics, a social organization which will serve as an
alternative medium to channel people's concerns on current social
and political issues.
Although the solidarity forum is not set to be a political
party, the organization is determined to take an active role in
nurturing the nation's morality and political culture which,
according to the forum founders, have been deteriorating.
"The birth of the solidarity forum is based on the premise
that the existing channels for people's aspiration are still part
of the authoritarian old regime," co-founder Chris Siner Key Timu
told reporters after the launching of the solidarity forum at the
Volley Ball Hall of the Bung Karno Sports Stadium in Central
Jakarta on Saturday.
"By cooperating with other social organizations and holding
dialogs with the existing political parties, the solidarity forum
will become a driving force for the people's struggle and
involvement in social and political affairs."
Chris, who is also a member of Petisi 50, a group of
government critics active in the past regime, underlined that the
solidarity forum was a nonexclusive organization where people
from other religions and members of organizations or political
parties were allowed to join.
"The word Catholic itself means universal. The Catholic label
in the name is only to show that the organization has been
initiated by the Catholic community. But the work is based on
solidarity principles," he said.
The declaration ceremony was attended by hundreds of Catholic
society members from Greater Jakarta; West Java's Cibinong,
Karawang and Bandung; and representatives from North Sumatra,
South Sulawesi, Kalimantan, East Nusa Tenggara and Papua
provinces.
Mohamad Sanusi, Chris' colleague at Petisi 50 and former
executive at the country's second largest Muslim organization,
Muhammadiyah, was also in attendance as well as other non-
Catholic figures.
The public figures who signed the declaration included senior
economist and former Bank Indonesia governor Frans Seda, former
minister for public housing Cosmas Batubara, senior Catholic
figure Petrus Canisius Harjasudirdja, and former House of
Representatives (DPR) legislator of the Indonesian Military
(TNI)/National Police faction F.X. Ferry Tinggogoy.
The solidarity forum is the first Christian and Catholic
social organization, which touches on social and political
issues.