Anti-Christian violence erupts in Indonesia

A large crowd of angry Muslims attacked three churches, a Christian orphanage and a Christian health centre in Indonesia, Tuesday. A Holy Family Missionary priest was violently beaten. Fr Saldhana was in his parish church of Sts. Peter and Paul, when the mob broke in and began vandalizing the sacred space. Fr. Saldhana was beaten as he tried to protect the tabernacle and the Eucharist. The violence erupted when a crowd of Muslims heard that a Christian missionary had been sentenced to 5 years’ prison for profaning Islam. The rioters demanded the death penalty.

Hundreds of police rushed in to intervene but failed to appease the thousands of Muslims who began to march en masse to "target Christians" on the main street of the city.

Archbishop Yohannes Pujasumarta of Semarang, in whose diocese the riot took place, told us Islamic militancy has been on the rise. “I am very disappointed,” he said, “because in recent months and days, the intolerance of that group of fanatics has mounted.”

Sts. Peter and Paul was the first church to be attacked.

The crowd then attacked a Pentecostal church, before going on to wreak havoc at a Catholic orphanage and a health centre run by the Sisters of Providence.

Listen to Chris Altieri’s report: