MUMBAI, India – A rally was held by Islamist radicals on March 5 in Indonesia protesting Catholic worship taking place at a public social center.

The protest took place in Arcamanik in West Java, which is 97 percent Muslim, and the Islamists said the facility – the Arcamanik Multipurpose Building (GSG) – was meant for social functions, not religion.

Church leaders say the land and building that are included in the Sukamiskin Subdistrict, Arcamanik District, have been recorded as assets used for worship from the beginning.

“Some Islam fundamentalists have challenged and disturbed our efforts to build a new Church or have forbidden us to have Eucharist in a Functional Hall belonging to the Catholic Church located in Arcamanic, a part of the Parish of Saint Odilia, Cicadas, City of Bandung,” said Bishop Antonius Subianto Bunjamin of Bandung, the President of the Indonesian Bishops’ Conference.

“We have used the hall for Sunday Mass every week for many years. The neighborhood, whose majority is Islam, allows us to have the Eucharist. However, some Islam fundamentalists from outside the area have come and wanted to forbid us to do religious activities,” he told Crux.

In 1988, the venue was originally built on land owned by Father Yosep Gandhi, the parish priest of Saint Odilia Parish Church in Bandung City, with ownership later turned over to Catholic Charity Church Association (PGAK) of Santa Odilia in June 2024, which now owns and runs it.

“From the beginning, it was named the Multipurpose Building because there was a letter from the Diocese (of Bandung) to confirm that the building in the name of the priest could also be used for public interests,” said Dyah Nur Susanti, a representative of the PGAK Santa Odilia congregation, in an online interview with BandungBergerak.

Bunjamin told Crux the diocese asked neighbors, local police, and local authorities for permission to do the liturgical service of Ash Wednesday at the site.

“We got permission, and even the authorities guaranteed that the liturgical service would be secure. On Wednesday, some fundamentalists came and did a manifestation during the service. Thanks to local authorities, police officers, and our Islamic friends for their help, we could finish the service,” the bishop said.

“Some – only a few – Islam fundamentalists who protest against us seem to be the same people who disturbed the Catholic Church in many areas in Bandung. The hall belongs to us, but they claim it as a shared facility belonging to society,” he explained.

“We reflect that we need to communicate better with our neighbors, government, local authorities, Islamic leaders, and all relevant groups. We pray for them. We pray for the Catholic Church,” Bunjamin said to Crux.

“We are proud of the Catholic faithful who dare give witness to their Catholic faith and to Muslim friends who dare to help and protect us. Thanks to God for what God has given us to the Catholic Church in Bandung, whose majority is Islam,” he said.

“May this difficult situation improve our faith and commitment as Catholics within Islamic society,” the bishop said.