MAY 15 — The Council of Churches of Malaysia ( CCM) strongly condemns the Surabaya church bombings on May 13, which killed 13 people and injured over 40 people, most of whom were members of the St Mary’s Immaculate Church, the Diponegoro Indonesian Christian Church and the Surabaya Pentecostal Church.
Reports revealed that there were also failed explosions affecting the St Jacob’s Church and the Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral.
We express our sincere condolences and prayers to all the families affected by this shameful and heinous crime which was meant to destroy the foundations of religious tolerance and harmony in Indonesia.
The suicide bombers responsible for these atrocious church attacks are believed to be a family affiliated with Jamaah Ansar Daulah (JAD) an extremist group affiliated with the IS network.
The CCM welcomes the response of the President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, who denounced such acts as “barbaric” and “unacceptable” in his country.
We call upon the president to double his government’s efforts to act strongly against such extremist Islamic groups and others who target Christian minorities with threats of violence.
More effort needs to be made to ensure security and to safeguard the fundamental religious right of people to worship and practice their faith in peace and harmony.
We stand in solidarity with the Persatuan Gereja Gereja di Indonesia (PGI) and share in their witness and current effort to bring healing and peace to the churches in Surabaya and the whole country.
* Media statement by the Council of Churches of Malaysia (CCM) issued on May 15, 2018.
** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
