Friday, May 17, 2013

Fr. Franz Magnis Suseno, S.J., "Will Indonesia's Condition Worsen?"

Fr. Franz Magnis-Suseno, S.J.
Rev. Franz Magnis Suseno, a philosopher and renowned Jesuit priest, has sent a letter to the Appeal of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for promoting religious tolerance in Indonesia. 
Conscience Foundation (ACF), objecting to its plans to bestow the World Statesman Award to President
"During the eight-and-a-half years of his presidency, Yudhoyono has never told Indonesians to respect minority rights. He obviously does nothing to protect minority groups," Suseno said, as quoted by tempo.co. In his letter, Suseno mentioned that hundreds of Ahmadis and Shiites have been expelled from their hometowns or killed because they were considered heretics. "A question arises: will Indonesia's condition worsen and eventually become like Pakistan and Iraq, where Shiites are killed every month for religious motivations?" wrote Suseno. 
He also mentioned the difficulty faced by local Christians in obtaining church permits. "Intolerance flourishes at the grassroots level," he said, as quoted by tempo.co. Suseno questioned the ACF's deliberations in giving the award to Yudhoyono. "How come they did not ask the Indonesian people's opinion before they decided to give Yudhoyono the award?" he said. 
Link (here) to The Jakarta Post

2 comments:

Qualis Rex said...

I care very little about Mohammedans maltreating or targeting other Mohammedans (i.e. the shia vs sunni vs ahmadi vs sufi) other than to say if it takes their ire and wrath away from oppressing Christians, then all the better. Unfortunately, Christians are all too often the victims in such conflicts (there are STILL 3 priests missing/kidnapped by Mohammedans in Syria that the world seems to have forgotten).

Anonymous said...

Fr. Franz, I wish your sense of human rights was shared by your collegue, Fr. Leahy, president of Boston College, who interjected himself into Irish politics. his award to Enda Kenney was support for Ireland to take the first step in legalizing abortion. Should we not support all human rights?