BANDA ACEH
\nWith flickering candles and the sound of organs, hundreds of Catholics held a muted Christmas Eve mass in Indonesia\u2019s Aceh province, the only one under ultraconservative Islamic law in the world\u2019s most populous Muslim-majority nation.
\nChristmas decorations are not allowed on the streets of Aceh \u2014 the only Indonesian province to implement strict Sharia law that includes punishments like flogging \u2014 where 98 percent are Muslim and just 6,000 Catholics live.
\nThe Sacred Heart Catholic Church, built almost 100 years ago by Dutch colonial rulers and the only one in the provincial capital Banda Aceh, was allowed to hold a ceremony Tuesday evening for a crowd of 500 faithful \u201cI don\u2019t find any difficulty in terms of relationship with believers of other religions. So far, the religious tolerance here is excellent,\u201d the church\u2019s pastor, Father Agustinus Padang, told media.
\nAceh has been widely criticised by rights groups for punishments of moral offences under the strict law, such as public canings for alleged adultery. But the province\u2019s special autonomy excludes non-Muslims from those, and Catholicism is one of the nominally secular country\u2019s six official religions.
\nThe church, located in the heart of the city and a stone\u2019s throw away from the grand mosque, is bare of any Christmas ornaments on its exterior. A tight security presence of more than a dozen police and soldiers was also visible because of several attacks against Christians in Indonesia in recent years.
\nBut inside the colonial-style church, worshippers celebrated with a tall Christmas tree, fairy lights, and a choir singing the Indonesian version of \u201cHoly Night\u201d.The sound of the Islamic call to prayer echoed around the church while preparations were underway for the Christmas celebration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BANDA ACEH With flickering candles and the sound of organs, hundreds of Catholics held a muted Christmas Eve mass in Indonesia\u2019s Aceh province, the only one under ultraconservative Islamic law in the world\u2019s most populous Muslim-majority nation. Christmas decorations are not allowed on the streets of Aceh \u2014 the only Indonesian province to implement strict […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":451686,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-451668","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n