Indonesian Minister of Religion Announces Plan to Simplify Approval Process for Houses of Worship

Indonesian Minister of Religion, Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, announced a plan to regulate established houses of worhsip. Yaqut Cholil Qoumassays the plan to build a house of worship will now need to be approved with only one recommendation.  Yaqut Cholil Qoumas said he aimed to simplify the construction of houses of worship, a historically challenging task in Indonesia. 

Requiring multiple recommendations makes it difficult to build houses of worship, said Qoumas. Rejecting the establishment of certain religious houses of worship shows the importance of religious moderation. The hope is that with religious moderation, the majority will not act arbitrarily against the minority.  

Yaqut Cholil Qoumas stated that the deeper a person understands his religion, the more tolerant he is of differences. If intolerance still occurs, it means that the people do not understand the teachings of their religion properly.  

“This is not about superiority but rather shows that a person does not understand the teachings of his religion properly. The more someone understands religion, the more tolerant he is,” said Qoumas. 

Currently, based on the Joint Decree (SKB) of the Minister of Religion and the Minister of Home Affairs, a group must first obtain a recommendation from the Ministry of Religion and the Forum for Religious Harmony (FKUB) in order to get a permit to build a house of worship.  

This Decree was created in response to frequent instances of resistance and forced dissolution after the construction of houses of worship of certain religions.  

Pray that with the new regulations, Christians can worship without any disturbance.