Indonesian Catholic Bishops’ Attitudes toward Three Controverting Issues during Indonesia’s New Order (1966–1998)

Abstract

This article portrays how the Catholic Church in Indonesia in the 1980s faced some legal civil decrees that were contrary to Catholic beliefs, but they nonetheless responded in a wise manner. Since the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic Church has had a new outlook on the relationship between Church and State. As stated in canon 22 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law, the Church is willing to accept and observe civil law, as long as it is “not contrary to divine law and unless canon law provides otherwise”. There were three instances in which the Catholic Church in Indonesia had to deal with such controverting matters. The first was the divorce issue and the second was the enforcement of family planning. In both cases, the Catholic Church strongly opposes them. The third issue was the law on inter-religious marriage, which the State strongly prohibits, although the Catholic Church provides dispensation. The observation of the Indonesian Bishops’ Conference’s opinions shows that the Catholic Church were able to maintain good relations with the State because the bishops could apply the Catholic teachings in the Indonesian context and better distinguish the rights of being Catholic from the rights of being an Indonesian citizen.