Police in Timor Lesté have issued warnings about potential attacks by Islamic extremists on churches and even on Dili’s bishop Virgilio do Carma da Silva. Last week there was a heavy police presence around churches, at the bishop’s palace and Sunday Masses. Both uniformed and plain-clothed officers armed with machine guns were in evidence “I got Read more
Leading Catholics in terrorism-plagued Indonesia have criticized prosecutors who demanded the death sentence for the terrorist allegedly behind a deadly spate of suicide bombings and attacks against police that have left many dead. Continue reading
“Duyog Marawi,” is a Catholic aid and healing programme in the war-torn city of Marawi in the Philippine island of Mindanao. It was launched by the Prelature of St. Mary in Marawi City on the 100th day of the Marawi conflict, even as families awaited word on the fate of some 40 hostages, including the Read more
“I know this is not easy for you to accept this reality, let alone me, but I have learned to forgive and accept all this,” the former governor of Jakarta said in a letter read out at a news conference held by his wife Veronica Tan on Tuesday. In the letter Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, (Ahok) Read more
Nightly candlelight vigils have been held in cities across Indonesia since Tuesday when the governor of the capital Jakarta, Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, was found guilty and sentenced to two years prison. Indonesians abroad also held vigils in cities including Amsterdam, Toronto and Melbourne, Australia. Months of huge protests against Ahok by Islamic hardliners and Read more
An Indonesian court has found Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, the Christian governor of Jakarta, guilty of blasphemy against Islam. After sentencing Purnama, known as Ahok, was taken to Cipinang Penitentiary in Jakarta, which houses criminals including drug dealers and rapists. The sentence was harsher than what prosecutors had asked for. They had recommended two years’ probation Read more
Local Catholics are glad that a group of Muslims have decided to drop a lawsuit that sought to stop the building of a Marian shrine in Indonesia’s Yogyakarta province. In a surprise move, the 39 Islamic extremists who opposed the construction of a replica of the Lourdes grotto in the Yogyakarta province have withdrawn their Read more
Indonesian security forces tore down three small Christian churches in Aceh on Monday. Hardline Muslims demanded their closure, citing a lack of building permits, and following religious violence. Local government security officers used sledgehammers to raze two small Protestant churches and a Catholic church – modest buildings of wood, concrete and tin – in the Read more
A group of Indonesian Islamic extremists have attacked and disrupted a scout camp organised by a Protestant group in Yogyakarta, central Java. According to the extremists, the Protestant group was not authorised to organise any public activity, especially, they claimed, since Ramadan had begun on 18 June, and public activities that violate the sacred nature Read more
The Fiji Muslim League has requested all its mosques and centres to pray for the wellbeing of the 45 Fijian soldiers held in captivity by the al-Qaida affiliated group al-Nusra. League president Hafizud Khan said Muslims around the country shared the same concern that, as Fijian troops were serving in a peacekeeping capacity under UN Read more