Religion and humanity complement each other: Indonesian Bishop

An Indonesian bishop has reiterated saying every religion should be at the service of humanity.

Addressing an interfaith event, Bishop Adrianus Sunarko, OFM, of Pangkalpinang said, “Faith in God should never conflict with humanity.”

He was attending the Haul Gus Dur XII activity in Batam on January 21. It was organized by the interfaith youth groups of Batam, Riau Islands Province at Mary Mother of Eternal Help Parish, Batam. 

“Religion and humanity will never contradict each other. The story of the good Samaritan in Luke's Gospel also conveys a similar message,” continued the Bishop of the Thousand Islands.

This activity was planned with various activities from different competitions to national dialogue as the highlight of the event.

The theme of the dialogue was "Celebrating faith, humanity and nationality with Gus Dur and Father Mangun." It aims to care for differences to maintain religious unity in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim country.

Several religious leaders attended the program including Alissa Wahid (the daughter of the late Gus Dur - virtually), Bishop Sunarko, Pandito Madya Suwarno (Buddhist leader), Made Karmawan (Hindu), Soedarmadi (Confucian), Bambang Yulianto (Islam), and Pastor Haposan Sianturi (Protestant), also the Chairman of the Batam City, members of local parliaments, parish priests and nuns in Batam City.

Alissa Wahid representing the Gus Dur Family expressed her appreciation to the interfaith youth groups of Batam, in particular the Catholic youth who became the "Shohibul Bait" (host) of Haul Gus Dur XII in 2021.

The daughter of the late Gus Dur also hoped that the dialogue would help the young people to continue the spirit and thoughts of Gus Dur and Father Mangun.

Committee Secretary, Cosmas Eko Suharyanto said that it was the first experience for the Catholic community to organize such an event and was held at the Catholic Church complex.

"In the future, we hope that this program will become a regular event and different religious groups in Batam would have the experience of becoming hosts," said Suharyanto, who is also the head of the Riau Islands Catholic Youth Division.

He also emphasized that this activity can foster brotherhood among religious adherents to strengthen tolerance in Indonesia.

Haul Gus Dur is held once a year to commemorate Gus Dur (Abdurrahman Wahid), an Indonesian politician and Islamic religious leader who served as the 4th President of Indonesia, from his election in 1999 until his removal from power in 2001.

A long-time leader within the Nahdlatul Ulama, an Islamic organization in Indonesia, he was the founder of the National Awakening Party (PKB). He was the son of Minister of Religious Affairs Wahid Hasyim, and the grandson of Nahdatul Ulama founder Hasyim Asy'ari.

Romo Mangun (Yusuf Bilyarta Mangunwijaya) is a diocesan priest, culturalist, architect, writer, social activist, and is known as a defender of the ‘wong cilik’ (poor people).

Father Mangun contributed a lot of his thoughts to building houses with exteriors that are familiar and suitable with the socio-cultural conditions of the residents yet are still beautiful to the eye.

In addition, the priest also helped to build the mentality of the residents of Kali Code (Jakarta) not to litter.

Both Gus Dur and Romo Mangung are two highly respected national leaders in Indonesia who are very sensitive to issues of social justice, tolerance and national unity