Christianity

ChristianityMain article: Christianity in IndonesiaThe Government of Indonesia officially recognizes the two main Christian divisions in Indonesia, Protestantism and Roman Catholicism, as two separate religions.

Protestantism
Main article: Protestants in IndonesiaProtestantism arrived in Indonesia during the Dutch East Indies (VOC) colonisation, around the sixteenth century. VOC policy to ban Catholicism significantly increased the percentage of Protestant believers in Indonesia.[11] Missionary efforts for the most part did not extend to Java or other already predominantly Muslim areas.[19] The religion has expanded considerably in the 20th century, marked by the arrival of European missionaries in some parts of the country, such as Western New Guinea and Lesser Sunda Islands.[20] Following the 1965 coup, all non-religious people were recognised as Atheist, and hence did not receive a balanced treatment compared to the rest of the citizens.[20] As a result, Protestant churches experienced a significant growth of members, partly due to the uncomfortable feeling towards the political aspirations of Islamic parties.
Protestants form a significant minority in some parts of the country. For example, on the island of Sulawesi, 17% of the citizens are Protestants, particularly in Tana Toraja and Central Sulawesi. Furthermore, up to 65% of the Torajan population is Protestant. In some parts of the country, entire villages belong to a distinct denomination, such as Adventist, International Church of the Foursquare Gospel,Lutheran, Presbyterian or Salvation Army (Bala Keselamatan) depending on the success of missionary activity.[21] Indonesia has two Protestant-majority provinces, which are Papua and North Sulawesi, with 60% and 64% of the total population consecutively.[22] In Papua, the faith is most widely practiced among the native Papuan population. In North Sulawesi, the Minahasan population centered around Manado converted to Christianity in the nineteenth century.[23] Today most of the population native to North Sulawesi practice some form of Protestantism, while transmigrants from Java and Madura practice Islam. As of 2006, 6% of the total citizens of Indonesia are Protestants.[24]

Roman Catholicism

Main article: Roman Catholicism in Indonesia Cathedral in JakartaCatholicism arrived in Indonesia during the Portuguese arrival with spice trading.[20] Many Portuguese had the goal of spreading Roman Catholicism in Indonesia, starting with Maluku islands in 1534. Between 1546 and 1547, the pioneer Christian missionary, Saint Francis Xavier, visited the islands and baptised several thousand locals.[25]
During the Dutch East Indies (VOC) era, the number of Roman Catholicism practitioners fell significantly, due to VOC policy to ban the religion. The most significant result was on the island of Flores and East Timor, where VOC concentrated. Moreover, Roman Catholic priests were sent to prisons or punished and replaced by Protestant priests from the Netherlands.[20] One Roman Catholic priest was executed for celebrating Mass in a prison during Jan Pieterszoon Coen's tenure as Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies.
As of 2006, 3% of all Indonesians are Catholics, slightly lower than the total number of Protestants. The pracitioners mostly live in Papua and Flores.
On September 22, 2006, there was a massive strike by Catholics, concentrated mainly on Flores Island following the execution of three Roman Catholic men.[26] Fabianus Tibo, Marinus Riwu, and Dominggus da Silva were convicted in 2001 of leading a Christian militia which killed at least 70 Muslims in 2000. However, human rights groups had questioned the fairness of the trial: claiming that although the three participated in the militia, they were not the leaders.[26]