Thousands of Muslims attended the Eid al-Fitr prayer at the Jami Great Mosque, Malang, East Java Province of Indonesia on May 2.
The Mulsim congregation was spread over to the courtyard of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church or known as the Kayutangan Catholic Church.
It was a show of tolerance amid the celebration of Eid al-Fitr, on May 2 morning. The distance between the Jami Great Mosque, Malang, and the Kayutangan Catholic Church is only approximately 300 meters.
Since morning, before the Muslims started arriving at the Jami Great Mosque, the Catholic youth together with the Catholic priest were ready to help Muslims carry out the Eid prayers.
They stood at the church gate and invited the Muslim worshipers to enter the churchyard to carry out the Eid prayer. Not only that, but the Catholic youth also distributed free mats that had been prepared.
Most of the female congregations were in the courtyard of the church, while the male congregations were on the main road.
"We have been opening the church gate since this morning so that Muslim brothers and sisters can perform Eid prayers here," said Father Yoris, assistant priest at Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish.
Father Yoris admitted that the use of the churchyard for Muslim Eid prayers is carried out almost every year, except for the past two years during the Covid-19 pandemic, because the implementation of the Iid prayer was canceled.
"Almost every year we welcome our Muslim brothers and sisters to pray in the churchyard, except for the past two years, because of the pandemic. This is a way of living out our tolerance and religious harmony," he admitted.
Yoris revealed that the Church would postpone the morning Mass if the Eid and Eid al-Adha prayers were held.
"If the Eid prayer coincides with the morning Mass, we will postpone the schedule to noon," he said.
The Muslims seemed enthusiastic about participating in the Eid prayer even though it had to be done in the churchyard.
"Thank God, I can join the Eid prayer, I do not have a problem even though it is here (the churchyard)," said Sulidawati (50), one of the female worshipers who pray in the church compound.
Not only in Malang, in several places in Indonesia, such as in Manggarai, East Nusa Tenggara Province, the Catholics, especially youth also helped maintain safety during the Eid prayer for Muslims at the Nurul Iman Mosque in East Manggarai Regency, on May 2.
Likewise, the Young Moluccan Protestant Church (AMGPM) Ternate City, North Maluku, and local Catholic Junior High School students distributed free newspapers to the Muslim congregation as a base for Eid prayer at the Gelora Kieraha Field in Ternate, Maluku Province.
This portrait of Indonesian tolerance has been part of our life to live side by side with a multi-religious society. These activities become a routine agenda for every Eid al-Fitr or Christmas or other religious celebration, to build up friendship and foster a sense of tolerance and brotherhood among religious believers in Indonesia.
About 10 percent of the Southeast Asian country’s more than 270 million population is Christian. There are an estimated eight million Indonesian Catholics. - Emiliana Saptaningsih
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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