Communal conflict in the Moluccas has claimed thousands of lives in the last four years. To begin with, the WARC executive committee responded by issuing statements and writing letters to the Indonesian president, the UN secretary general, member churches, and others concerned. Since things did not improve, the Alliance decided to engage more actively in promoting reconciliation - not only in the Moluccas, but also in other areas of Indonesia such as Central Sulawesi.

shared meal

A member of WARC staff visited Ambon and Jakarta to prepare the ground, contacting Muslim organizations as well as the Christian community. Then, in connection with the executive committee meeting in Tondano, Minahasa, in July this year, we planned a programme of team visits to Ambon, Bali, Papua, Poso, and North Sumatra.

Unfortunately, because of the conflict, visits to Ambon and Poso were not possible. Instead, we organized an interfaith consultation in Jakarta, bringing together local delegations from Ambon and Poso and an international delegation. Altogether there were 32 participants, from Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and Christian communities.

The aim was to hear about the communal conflict in the Moluccas and Central Sulawesi through the voice of the interfaith delegations from these regions, to analyse together its root causes and to discuss ways in which religious communities could work for peace.

Immanuel church The local communities do want peace. Both Muslims and Christians would like to go back to the amicable situation that existed until recently. There was almost unanimous agreement that an invisible hand was provoking and orchestrating violence. To block such manipulation, the two communities need to be united in faithfully implementing the two Malino peace agreements brokered by the government in December 2001 and February 2002. Both the central government and local authorities should also do more to implement them. These agreements are a good framework for promoting peace and reconciliation.

A concrete outcome of the consultation is the "Interfaith Statement of Solidarity with Suffering People for Peace and Justice".

Participants divided into several groups for a series of encounters. They visited Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the coordinating minister of politics and security, and Yusuf Kalla, the coordinating minister of welfare, who initiated the Malino agreements. Both ministers appreciated the work of the Alliance and assured the delegation that they would step up their involvement in this issue. The participants also met the ambassadors of the USA, the UK and Japan - these countries are members of the consultative group for Indonesia. They visited a variety of religious organizations: the Indonesian Council of Islamic Religious Leaders/Majelis Ulama Indonesia, Muhamadiyah, and Nahdatul Ulama (Muslim), Perwalian Umat Buddha Indonesia/WALUBI (Buddhist), Parisada Hindu Dharma Indonesia (Hindu), as well as the Episcopal Conference of Indonesia/KWI (Roman Catholic) and the Communion of Churches in Indonesia/PGI (Protestant).

panel discussion The other team visits - to Bali, Papua, North Sumatra and South Sulawesi - went as planned. Each visit had a different mandate. In Bali, the focus was on conflict between Christians and Hindus. The visits to South Sulawesi and North Sumatra were simply to visit member churches, but revealed that there is also a potential for religious conflict between Christians and Muslims there. In Papua, the principal question related to human rights and Papuan self-determination, but the interfaith issue exists there also.

This WARC initiative was highly appreciated by the different religious communities in Indonesia as well as the international participants from various faiths. Indian Hindus and Muslims asked if WARC could help organize a similar consultation in their country to address communal strife there and promote reconciliation. This would be an ideal way to go beyond mere advocacy of the rights of one's own faith community and to encourage cooperation among religious communities for the benefit of all.

One of the most significant outcomes of the programme is that the WARC executive committee decided to establish an interfaith taskforce to consider the spiritual, theological and practical aspects of an interfaith approach to dealing with issues with which WARC and its member churches are confronted, and to follow up on the recommendations coming from the interfaith consultation and the Indonesian team visits.

Through this experience, WARC has expressed a commitment to peace and reconciliation beyond religious borders that opens up new significant perspectives for its life and work.

Park Seong-won, department of cooperation and witness