Church Groups Fight Indonesian Communism

Press, Volume XCVI, Issue 28383, 16 September 1957, Page 2

Church Groups Fight Indonesian Communism

The strongest opponents against the spread of Communism in Indonesia were the religious groups, both Christian and Mohammedan, said Miss A. L. Fransz, an associate general secretary on the staff of the National Council of Churches in Indonesia, in an interview last evening. Miss Fransz, who has a degree of master of laws and is a wellknown lecturer, was a speaker at the open service of the Combined Churches’ Campaign yesterday afternoon.

When the National Council of Churches in Indonesia held its general assembly last year, a challenge was made to member churches to study Communism to get a clear understanding of its principles, which uneducated Indonesians might confuse with Christian principles, she said. Illiterate people were not able to discriminate, for instance, between the Christian’s ideal of social justice and that for which the Communists stand. “You cannot be a Christian and a Communist and the churches are realising this more and more,” she said. Confusion Quite a number of Christians had joined the Communists because they were illiterate and were confused by propaganda, she said.

“We were shocked by the Communist victories in the , recent elections, but I don’t believe that they will conquer our country, because the vast number of Mohammedans, as well as some very powerful political groups, also have taken such a firip stand against the Communists,” Miss Fransz said.

Women had an important part to play in this and in all other aspects of the churches’ work in Indonesia, she said. They already co-operated effectively in the individual churches, but a women’s committee had not yet been organised in the National Council of Churches. A woman minister, now a member of the executive of the council, hoped to form a women’s committee in the organisation as soon as possible. Altogether there were six women ministers in Indonesia who were giving fine service to their churches. Very few churches in Indonesia would not ordain suitable women candidates for the ministry. Women ministers were able to reach out to other women and weld them together, she said. The church’s social welfare work was another field particularly suited to women ministers. Edits Magazine

Miss Fransz’s special job in the National Council of Churches of Indonesia is the editing of the organisation’s monthly publica-

tion. She is also a member of the council’s group which is studying rapid social changes in such countries as India, Africa and Latin America. This work is being undertaken in co-opera-tion with the World Council of Churches, which will collate all material gathered and publish its findings. In Indonesia the majority of the people are Mohammedans. Christians, who number about 4,000,000, represent only 5 per cent, of the population. About 2,500,000 of the Christians belong to the 31 churches affiliated to the. National Council of Churches in Indonesia. Nearly 1,000.000 belong to the Roman Catholic Church and about 500.000 are members of churches and groups qot affiliated. The National Council of Churches is aiming to bring all churches together to form a united church of Indonesia. Miss Fransz said that she was most impressed by the combined youth service held in the Christchurch Cathedral yesterday. “The nearest we have to this in Indonesia is the young people’s Christmas celebration which Is held in an open air stadium, but they have no procession,” she said.

The experience of taking part in the Combined Churches’ Campaign had been a most valuable one and would provide many helpful ideas to take back to Jakarta, Miss Fransz said.