The Orthodox Church in Indonesia has 13 parishes in Java, Bali, Sumatra, Celebes, Timor and Papua. 87% of Indonesians are Muslim. Like Christians in all too many other countries, all the Christians of Indonesia live under precarious circumstances, as exemplified by the terrible events recounted in this article.
For previous ChristianPersecution.com coverage of the persecution of Christians in Indonesia, see here.
“Christians beheaded in Indonesia terror attack,” Christian Today, May 13, 2021:
Four Christian men were beheaded in a horrific terror attack in Indonesia on Tuesday, Open Doors reports.
The attack occurred in Kalimago Village, Poso Regency in Central Sulawesi, and has been blamed on Islamist extremists belonging to the terrorist group, East Indonesia Mujahidin (MIT).
Two victims were members of the Mamasa Toraja Church. Another came from Toraja Church and one from a Catholic Church in the area.
They were aged between 42 and 61.
Their murders come just half a year after four other Christians were killed at a Salvation Army outpost in Sigi, Central Sulawesi.
Open Doors’ local partner in Indonesia Ari Hartono – whose name has been changed for security reasons – said, “Central Sulawesi locals are still traumatised from the terrorist attack in Sigi last November and have not recovered yet.
“We’re not sure if the attack is religiously motivated even though the victims are Christians.
“It could be an act of survival. After the Sigi incident, the terrorists in Central Sulawesi have been increasingly pressed by the police and the army.
“Their logistics is exhausted. The only way to survive is to rob people of food. In this area, there are many farmers who live in the forest far from the village and they were the ones targeted by the terrorists.”
Indonesia is rated at number 47 on Open Doors’ World Watch List, an annual ranking of the 50 countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution….
