AsiaNews.it
Christian and Muslim leaders spreading tolerance among young people
by Mathias Hariyadi
The Saint Peter Jesuit Seminary in Mertoyudan (Central Java) organises a conference for the benefit of seminarians. Muslim and Catholic leaders note the growth of religious sectarianism and confessional hatreds in the country, which can only be stopped by mutual understanding and respect.
Jakarta (AsiaNews) – Teaching future priests respect for other religions and spreading a spirit of dialogue between Christians and Muslims in order to stop the rise of extremism are some of the issues addressed at a conference on religious pluralism held on 23 July at the Saint Peter Minor Jesuit Seminary in Mertoyudan (Magelang, Central Java) to mark the institution’s centennial.
Speaking to AsiaNews, Saint Peter’s rector, Fr Ignatius Sumaraya, said that the “seed of tolerance was planted in the seminary to allow seminarians to be guided in their training by the spirit of diversity in unity.”
For the first time in the history of the institution, the most important of its kind in Indonesia, various Muslim and Christian religious leaders and public figures were invited to speak about society’s problems.
The list of participants included Zuhaeri Misrawi, from Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), a moderate Islamic organisation, and Teguh Santosa, deputy secretary general of Muhammadiyah’s Youth Group, the country’s second largest Muslim organisation.
Trias Kuncahyono, a former seminarian and the current deputy chief editor of Kompas Daily, and Dr Maryatmo a former seminarian and the current dean of Yogyakarta-based Catholic Atma Jaya University, were also among the invited guests.
According to the speakers, Indonesia is the victim of religious sectarianism, which often ends in violence between Muslims Christians, Ahmadis and hundreds of other denominations and animist tribal groups present in the country.
Attacks like those in Poso (Central Sulawesi) and the Maluku Islands in 2005, and the recent attacks against police stations by the Jamaah Ashrut Tauhid are a product of this climate, which terror groups use to pit one community against the others.
To counter this tendency, religious leaders stressed the importance of spreading a spirit of unity and tolerance through mutual understanding and respect among young people.