Mengintip Surat Romo Magnis kepada Appeal of Conscience Foundation (ACF)
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Appeal of Conscience Foundation (ACF), I am a Catholic Priest and professor of philosophy in Jakarta. In Indonesia we learnt that you are going to bestow this year's World Stateman Award to our President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono because of his merits regarding religious tolerance. This is a shame, a shame for you. It discredits any claim you might make as a an institution with moral intentions. How can you take such a decision without asking concerned people in Indonesia? Hopefully you have not made this decission in response to prodding by people of our Government or of the entourage of the President. Do you not know about the growing difficulties of Christians to get permits for opening places of prayer, about the growing number of forced closures of churches, about the growth of regulations tha make worshipping for minorities more difficult, thus about growing intolerance on the grassroot level? And particularly, have you never heard abo...