Family prayer forcibly interrupted
As family members prayed, two people burst into their home saying that such a gathering had been banned. Yesterday’s incident and related videos posted on social media sparked interest among ordinary Indonesians.
Jakarta (AsiaNews) – A family whose members belong to the Christian Batak Protestant Church (HKBP) were praying yesterday at home, when two men burst into their house accusing them of holding a banned gathering. Currently, all public activities are banned Indonesia and people are told to stay at and work from home.
During the incident, which occurred in Rawa Sentul, a hamlet in Jayamukti, a village in Cikarang sub-district, Bekasi Regency (West Java), the two men, the hamlet chief and a neighbour of the family in question, tried to enforce the ban with force and rudeness, telling family members to stop praying.
A tape of the event was posted on social media, sparking controversy among Indonesians, showing the family standing their ground against the hostile intruders.
Once he realised that he was being filmed, the village chief got angrier and tried to snatch the mobile device from the woman taping what was going. Failing this, he left, aware that the scene would be soon posted on social media.
"We are used to praying together,” said Arion Sihombing on his social media platform,” but those two arrived suddenly at our home and ordered us to stop praying. We fear that these people will bring their followers for more hostile acts.”
He added that yesterday’s act was not the first time that his family was the object of hostilities. “This happened to us 12 years ago, when we faced a mob protesting against us because we met to pray as a family. We were under pressure for a month and every night they threw stones at our home.”
After that, the family stopped worshipping together, then yesterday’s incident occurred. After the video appeared on social media, it went viral, with many people slamming the village chief and the neighbour for their hostile act.
Hours later, the issue was resolved peacefully at the local police station. But this kind of issue remains delicate as it involves family religious activities. For the past few weeks, the local Christian community has been unable to meet and services are only available online.
Catholic parishes too hold their daily and weekly services online. During Holy Week, Card Ignatius Suharyo led the Mass in Jakarta’s basilica, with at least 30,000 people following it live on their mobile phones. Thousands more did the same watching on television.
When Pope Francis gave his Urbi et Orbi blessing and the plenary indulgence, tens of thousands of Indonesian Catholic groups followed them.
Live streaming and broadcasting by the Indonesian Church and the Vatican are something relatively new in Indonesia. However, thousands of Catholic congregations now use social media to find information about TV channels and online media platforms to follow such services.
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24/04/2020 13:02
