Christmas Strengthens Unity

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Mahanaim Protestant Church and Al-Muqarabbien Mosque stand side by side on Jl. Enggano in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, on Monday (16/12/2019). The church and the mosque are two adjoining places of worship and have carried out their activities with tolerance for one another since 1958.

The 2019 Christmas celebration, themed around togetherness, must serve as a moment to strengthen unity and the quality of living together as one nation.

YOGYAKARTA, KOMPAS — In the past few years, challenges have cropped up in the effort to maintain a sense of togetherness in Indonesia as society is growing more divisive.

Under such conditions, Indonesian Christians must use the 2019 Christmas celebration as a moment to strengthen the bonds of kinship in the nation. Christmas must be a moment to maintain and strengthen the quality of togetherness filled with peace, kinship and harmony.

“We must nurture togetherness for the sake of Indonesia’s progress,” Semarang Archbishop Mgr Robertus Rubiyatmoko said after a meeting with Yogyakarta Governor Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X at the Yogyakarta Governor’s Office on Monday (23/12/2019).

Rubiyatmoko said that Indonesian Catholics and Protestants had adopted a common theme for this year’s Christmas celebration, namely “Live as a Friend for Everyone”.

The theme means that a Christian must be a good friend to everyone around. Hopefully, Christians can contribute toward peaceful and harmonious life.

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Cardinal Ignatius Suharyo, Archbishop of the Jakarta Archdiocese.

Separately, Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI) chairman Gomar Gultom said he understood the 2019 Christmas theme as the church’s response to the increasingly egoistic global pattern of interpersonal relationships. There is a tendency among groups of people worldwide to become more exclusive and ignorant toward others. This prompts people to become increasingly competitive in public spaces.

At the same time, humans forget the need for spaces for sharing. “If [this is] neglected, conflicts will be inevitable,” Gultom said.

On that basis, the church urges everyone to be friends to others, to listen rather than speak, to prioritize rather than seeking priority and to give attention rather than seeking it.

Apart from their relationship with other people, Gultom said, Christians should also be friends of nature. Humans have become excessive in exploiting nature. Nature should be treated as a friend instead of merely as an object of economic gain.

These threatened to exacerbate national division and erode the awareness of the importance of unity.

Jakarta Archbishop Cardinal Ignatius Suharyo said three major things threatened kinship, namely hate speech, intolerance and identity politics. These threatened to exacerbate national division and erode the awareness of the importance of unity.

Abu Dhabi Declaration

Rubiyatmoko said the 2019 Christmas theme was in line with the Abu Dhabi Declaration signed by Pope Francis and Al-Azhar Grand Imam Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), on Feb. 4, 2019.

The Abu Dhabi Declaration is a historic document on human kinship for world peace and togetherness to prevent radicalism and terrorism.

“The Abu Dhabi Declaration signed by Pope Francis and the Al-Azhar grand imam urges all of us to make real efforts to achieve togetherness filled with peace, harmony and kinship,” Rubiyatmoko said.

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A worker cleans the courtyard of Jakarta Cathedral in Central Jakarta on Monday (23/12/2019). Various preparations were made by the church ahead of the celebration of Christmas.

Meanwhile, Muhammadiyah secretary-general Abdul Mu’ti explained that, in the context of patriotism, Christmas would be a prayer for peace in Indonesia.

“In line with Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution, the state must provide freedom and guarantees for Christians to celebrate Christmas peacefully,” he said.

He continued that Indonesians should always nurture interfaith tolerance, mutual respect and collaboration.

“Interfaith harmony must be achieved in all aspects of social and national life, including in the celebration of Christmas,” he said.

Sultan Hamengku Buwono X said that he hoped the Christmas celebration could provide an opportunity for everyone to do good deeds in various aspects, including togetherness, politics and welfare.

Indonesians, he said, adhered to various religious beliefs. Therefore, interfaith tolerance was indispensable. (HRS/FAI/VAN)