ASIA/INDONESIA – The Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies: “moments of interreligious dialogue and common prayer for peace”

Jakarta – “Interreligious dialogue between Christians and Muslims is taking place in people’s everyday lives, in parishes and local communities. In Indonesia, we are experiencing a genuine, everyday dialogue, which is particularly evident during Lent and Ramadan,” said Father Alfonsus Widhiwiryawan, Xaverian missionary and National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country with 275 million inhabitants, 90% of whom are Muslim and just over 10 million of whom are Catholic.
“It is a time marked by encounters, where fasts are broken together, and in a period of severe international tensions, Muslims and Christians in Indonesia are uniting in prayer for peace,” said Father Widhiwiryawan. Peace begins here among us, in our lives, and we pray and commit ourselves so that it may spread to the entire world, devastated by new wars.”
The spirit of dialogue, prayer, and shared commitment to peace will also be expressed at a meeting in Jakarta this coming Friday, March 13, organized by the Committee for Interreligious Relations of the Indonesian Bishops at the headquarters of the Bishops’ Conference in Jakarta. The meeting will be attended by the President of the Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Antonius Subianto Bunyamin, OSC, along with other bishops and priests, Islamic religious leaders, and representatives of the Gusdurian Network, which is inspired by Abdurrahman Wahid , the historical Indonesian president, also known as “Gus Dur”, a great promoter of dialogue and harmony among religions. The network is active in 130 Indonesian cities and is committed to promoting interreligious cooperation at all levels. Among the interreligious initiatives, which involve not only Christians and Muslims but also Hindus, Father Alfonsus mentions the upcoming “Day of Silence,” a day of fasting and meditation, the Hindu festival of Nyepi, which falls on March 19, 2026.
In Bali, an Indonesian island with a Hindu majority, the day will be marked by a 24-hour total lockdown ordered by civil authorities: no lights, no traffic, no internet, no noise, and no travel . “One experiences introspection and purification,” explains the National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies, “but this initiative also includes Muslim and Christian believers in a moment of silence, reflection, and prayer,” he emphasizes. “And the shared thought will be peace—peace in everyone’s heart and peace in the world,” he notes.

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