Indonesian Catholics call for action on church graft

Deeds, not repeated rhetoric, is the only way to stamp out 'original sin' of corruption, discussion told

Mar 25, 2017

JAKARTA: Despite repeated calls for clampdowns, corruption continues to plague the church in Indonesia, leading Catholics in the Muslim majority country said.

Franciscan Father Peter Canisius Aman, a moral theology lecturer at Driyarkara School of Philosophy in Jakarta, said corrupt behavior remains a threat to the local church.

"It is hard to get rid of because these corrupt acts are neatly wrapped up and hidden in 'holy' policies and services. If these are laid bare, we would see the corruption more clearly," he told a discussion in Jakarta recently.

"The problem is a lack of transparency and accountability within the church," he added.

One such example was charging for services by a certain parish on the predominantly Catholic island of Flores, he said. The parish distributes tickets costing around 10,000 rupiah (less than US$1) each to parishioners wanting to attend special feasts.

He pointed to the practice of marking-up budgets needed for various projects, using fictitious receipts, and charging a commission on purchased goods.

"This is common within the church despite the fact the Indonesian bishops' conference calls them corrupt acts," Father Aman said.

The bishops did just that on Nov. 10 last year in a pastoral call highlighting such corruption.

The call came three days after two laymen were jailed for years for embezzling funds earmarked for a church construction project in Lembata district, East Nusa Tenggara province.

The case came to light after the Religious Affairs Ministry, which gave 1 billion rupiah toward the project, complained about not receiving financial reports stating how the money was being spent.

Fransiskus Xaverius Sunar Wibowo from St. Gabriel Parish in East Jakarta said many Catholics forgive acts of corruption far too easily which allows it to continue.

"If we do not take concrete steps, it will take a long time to eliminate it," he told ucanews.com.

"The church needs to act not just sound off. Actions speak louder than words," he said.

Jakarta Archdiocese regularly audits its parishes' financial reports, he added.

Father Yohanes Dwi Harsanto from Immaculate Virgin Mary Parish in Yogyakarta called corruption within the church "the original sin."

He said his parish was forced to act when a former parish treasurer stole money.

The result was we now strictly adhere "to Semarang archdiocesan financial guidelines that require each parish to pay taxes and to report financial statements."

The church in Indonesia first raised concerns over corruption in 1970 when the bishops issued a document on financial irregularities as a result of working practices and highlighted corruption as a barrier to the church's development.

There are about 7 million Catholics out of 237.6 million people in Indonesia, according to government figures.--ucanews.com

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