Simpler procedures sought for church building permit

Simpler procedures sought for church building permit

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Roman Catholic Conference (KWI)
is urging local administrations to simplify application
procedures for church building permits so as to maintain a
harmonious relationship between different religious believers.

The Central government has delegated its authority to regents
and mayors when issuing building permits for houses of worship
for all religions.

"But none dare to issue building permits for churches without
agreement from local community leaders," PGI chairman Mgr. Julius
Darmaatmadja said in a press meeting here yesterday.

Christians in predominantly Moslem areas have complained of
difficulties in procuring official permits to build their
churches largely because the local government is made up of
community leaders, often of a different faith.

Darmaatmadja said the Joint Ministerial Decree issued in 1969
which requires the agreement of local community leaders had been
revised. Nowadays, he feels, the leaders should only be
"consulted."

The decree stipulates that regents and mayors should take into
consideration city planning, local conditions and suggestions
from local religious ministry offices, he said.

Recently, the Communion of (Protestant) Churches in Indonesia
(PGI) also asked the government to make a clearer regulation on
building permits for houses of worship, saying that Christian
communities should be given legal certainty on the matter.

Darmaatmadja said the existing decree had been widely
misinterpreted by local administrations and the general public
alike.

"According to the joint ministerial decree, local community
leaders should only be consulted, not be asked for their
approval," he said.

Darmaatmadja, recently named Indonesia's cardinal by Pope John
Paul II, said all religious leaders in the country reviewed the
original decree with the Minister of Home Affairs last year and
was rejected by all except for the delegation of the Indonesian
(Moslem) Ulemas Council (MUI).

He said KWI and PGI would meet again in the near future to
discuss actions that might be taken to press the proposal for the
disputed decree to be revised.

Darmaatmadja, also archbishop of the Semarang diocese,
announced that Indonesian bishops would convene here today to
elect the presidium leadership of KWI for the 1994-97 period and
to draft their annual programs.

He said the congress would also elect the new KWI chairman and
make a plan on what the organization could contribute to help the
government fight the deadly Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
(AIDS) in the country. (rms)