ASIA/INDONESIA - Violence in Papua: appeal for peace by Catholic priests

Timika (Agenzia Fides) - With a strong appeal for dialogue and reconciliation aimed at overcoming the conflict in the Indonesian Papua region, 147 Catholic priests have signed a "moral call to justice and truth, recognizing that violence only brings new problems". The appeal relates to repeated episodes of violence and ongoing human rights violations by Indonesian security forces in the eastern region of Papua, an area of the country with a strong Christian presence, in which civilians and members of the Catholic and Protestant Churches have been killed and injured. The appeal, sent to Agenzia Fides, summarizes a long list of these violations, which is supported by documents and testimonies that prompted priests to take a position divided into ten points and addressed to the authorities of the Republic and the security forces but also to the local government and the various groups involved in the violence.
The text recalls the episode on October 26th last year when Rufinus Tigau, a Catholic catechist from the Intan Jaya district, was killed by the national security forces for no reason. In November, leading representatives of the Catholic Church, including Cardinal Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo, President of the Bishops' Conference of Indonesia, met with key Indonesian security officials and called on the government to reduce tensions through dialogue. On that occasion, the bishops raised the issue of violence that characterizes life in Papua, noting that the army's actions had only exacerbated tensions, urging the government to "immediately stop violence in Papua". But despite the bishops' request, the killings, violence and indiscriminate arrests have not stopped.
"We Pastors from all over Papua are united in calling fora n approach that gives priority to dialogue: an approach that must become a new and dignified policy in order to build a Papua that is more stable, fairer, peaceful and prosperous. At the same time, we condemn all violence in this country", said the 147 priests, who also call on the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Indonesia and the Episcopal Conference of Papua to promote a "full dialogue", because only then can the long conflict in Papua be resolved.
The dialogue, according to the signatories of the appeal, "is not intended to find out who is wrong and who is right, but rather wants to find real truths that lead all parties involved to justice and peace. In faith and hope - they add - we firmly believe that dialogue does not kill, never harms. It is precisely when we use wrong methods such as acts of violence that have no humanity, that we will then leave physical and mental wounds. Whatever the reason, any violence in the form of murder and neglect of human beings created by God is wrong and an enormously cruel sin". (MG-PA) (Agenzia Fides, 12/12/2020)

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human rights

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dialogue

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violence

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ecumenicalism

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priests

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