ICC Note:
Christians in Indonesia are becoming more fearful as persecution is increasing. Since late August, there have been two major attacks on hundreds of Christians. In late August, an 18-year-old Muslim teenager attempted to blow up a Catholic church with hundreds of congregants and then attacked the priest when the explosion failed. This week, a group of Muslim men interrupted a Catholic memorial mass attended by over 200 Christians with heckling and intimidation. Eventually, the priest and his assistant fled for their lives. Indonesia has demonstrated historically moderate Islamic practices so the recent uptick in Christian persecution is very concerning.
09/09/2016 Indonesia (Christian Post) – Islamic radicals attacked 200 Christians at a Catholic mass in Indonesia, including children, and forced a priest to flee the church after he was threatened by the mob who harassed him as he read the Bible during a memorial service.
AsiaNews reported on Wednesday that the incident occurred earlier this week at the church of St. Peter Purwosari, near Surakarta in Central Java, where 200 Christians had gathered to celebrate mass 1,000 days after the death of one of their loved ones.
“Just after communion they began to intimidate those present, including children, demanding that the mass be interrupted. Eventually the priest, Fr. Adrianus Sulistiyono, was forced to flee along with his assistant,” one of the Catholic witnesses said.
The potential affiliation of the attackers to any known terror groups was not made immediately clear.
Christians in Indonesia have been on edge over a potential attack, with a teenage supporter of the Islamic State terror group coming close to killing hundreds of worshipers in another incident in Medan, the capital of North Sumatra, in late August.
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