Islamic militants torched a church in the Indonesian Province of North Sulawesi, Thursday night, raising fears of more violence to come during the Christmas holidays.

|PIC1|The recent blaze at Beth Eden Protestant Church in the city of Manado brought serious damage to a large section of the building. Stephen Low, the church's pastor reported to Asia News that he had received threats over the phone beforehand from unknown callers threatening to burn down the church.

City police and the province's anti-terrorism unit are now on the look out for those responsible for torching. The only witness at the scene, a ten-year-old boy, could not provide much evidence on the identity of the perpetrators.

For the holidays, more than 6,000 security personnel in total have been deployed with increased vigilance at religious sites, according to Superintendent AS Reniban, the local police spokesperson.

“Churches and other worship buildings have become our top priority to secure along with entertainment centers, shopping compounds,” he said to Asia News.

Reniban also said the police would “do our best to counter any possible bomb attacks by terrorists.”

|AD|Around 23 areas in North Sulawesi have been identified as potential bombing targets, so far, and are now under heavy guard. In the island nation's capital of Jakarta more than 640 churches have already been placed under police protection in the previous days.

Nahdatul Ulama, Indonesia's larget Islamic organisation, has also vowed to guard churches throughout the Christmas season.

A number of Muslim volunteers along with police have set up checkpoints near churches, searching all passers-by for dangerous materials or substances. In the province of East Java, 200 paramilitary volunteers from Muslim groups have joined police to search anyone entering church, including Catholics and Christians.

The Rev. E. M. Pattinasarane from the Inter-Churches Cooperation Forum of East Java urged churches to be responsible for their own protection, and that the police were just "additional resources."

Churches have also urged worshippers to not bring items that would draw unnecessary suspicion from the security detail.

The Bishop's Conference of Indonesia and the Synod of Christian Protestant Church issued a joint pastoral letter says, "Let us not be afraid as God always secures our existence."

The letter also stated that though security will remain a concern in Indonesia for years to come, the churches have hope that the situation will improve.

The nation's National Intelligence Agency Chief Syamsir Siregar, meanwhile, urged Christians to take courage against the threat of violence, during a meeting of police chiefs and Protestant, Catholic, Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu leaders.

He also warned leaders to be wary of bombing that may occur during the Christmas celebrations.

Most leaders, however, hope the holiday season will pass without violence.

The Rev. Chrysta Budi Praetyanto said that Christmas "must be welcome with greatest joy, not with fears."

The Executive Secretary General of the Bishop's Conference, Fr. Alex Soesilo Widjojo SJ, expressed hopes that the joint Christian-Muslim cooperation would prevent further attacks.







Hudson Tsuei
Christian Today Correspondent