Vice President Receives Visit And Audience With Representatives Of The Papuan Churches Fellowship

The Vice President receives an audience of representatives of the Papuan Churches Fellowship/Photo: Antara

JAKARTA - The Vice President, KH Ma'ruf Amin, received an audience of representatives of churches throughout the Land of Papua who is members of the Communion of Churches in Papua and West Papua (PGGP), in Jakarta, Wednesday, April 20.

In the meeting, he and representatives of churches discussed sustainable development, to reconciliation efforts in Tanah Papua. "This afternoon I received a visit from the Communion of Churches in Papua and West Papua. Representatives from the churches came to submit constructive proposals", he said after the meeting in Jakarta, Wednesday.

According to him, the existence of church associations in Papua and West Papua makes it easier for the government to collaborate with churches in Papua. "The role of the church is important for sustainable development in Papua and building peace and prosperity", he said.

He said that the meeting also helped build dialogue in the context of building reconciliation and eliminating conflicts in the Land of Papua.

"We agreed on how to find a solution, that we should no longer inherit conflict. What we inherit must be sustainable development. The government and the church will try to find a solution, this is the important thing", he said.

It should be noted that PGGP is a joint institution (ecumenical) as well as a forum for dialogue for churches in Papua, which is a representation of 58 church denominations in Papua and 48 denominations in West Papua, which come from 5 large church clumps throughout Tanah Papua.

The purpose of the audience of the pastors was to submit the recommendation document for the Conference of Church Leaders in Tanah Papua, 15-17 February 2022, in Jayapura, as part of the 167th Anniversary of the Gospel Preaching Day (HPI) in Papua.

The recommendations produced in the HPI this time were also brought by PGGP and PGGP West Papua to him as the coordinator of the Papua Development Acceleration Program so that the various aspirations of the churches in Papua could be heard directly and followed up by the central government.

This communication between fellow religious leaders is part of the central government's steps to put forward a socio-cultural and religious approach to handling Papuan issues, especially with church leaders as one of the main stakeholders throughout the history of Papua's development.