Vento Saudale, Bogor – Peace on Earth and good will to men may be thin on the ground this Christmas in Bogor, where one congregation is being told there is no room at the inn, or at their own church

Municipal authorities are standing firm in their decision to ban worship at the GKI Yasmin church, which has been contro versially shuttered for more than two years. The church members, in turn, remain adamant that they will observe the holy day there.

Bogor Mayor Diani Budiarto, who has ignored a Supreme Court ruling ordering him to reopen the church, said on Friday that he would not tolerate any worship in or around the sealed church.

"I do not prohibit Christians from conducting their Christmas worship on December 24 and 25 – as long as it is held in the right place," Diani said.

He said the authorities were offering a separate building where the congregation could conduct worship. The Harmoni Center hosted the Yasmin Christmas service last year.

GKI Yasmin spokesman Bona Sigalingging was unimpressed by the mayor's offer. "Diani often lies," Bona said. "During the special coordination meeting at the ministry [on Thursday], it was agreed that the GKI Yasmin Christmas service be protected and there was no talk at all of moving the venue."

Bona said the congregation had not yet decided whether they would hold their Christmas service in the church or on the sidewalk in front of it. "If they force us to move the venue, it would be better if we move to the house of one of the members of the congregation," he said.

Bogor regional sec retary Bambang Gunawan said that the authorities continued to reject any plans to hold the Christmas service on the sidewalk in front of the church.

"This is to protect the GKI Yasmin congregation itself from unwanted things," he said. He said that if the congregation persisted in trying to hold mass in front of the church, they would provoke a harsh reaction from the people in the area.

The Bogor Police chief of operations, Comr. Syahroni, said officers would safeguard the area on Christ mas Eve and Christmas Day.

"There are 54 churches that we have to guard in Bogor, and even though on [Yasmin's] K.H. Abdullah bin Nuh Street there is still no decision on the church, we will deploy 700 joint personnel members on December 24 and 25," Syahroni said.

Meanwhile, the Ansor Youth Movement – the youth wing of Nahdlatul Ulama, the country's largest Islamic organization – said it planned to deploy members near the church to help the Yasmin congregation conduct its Christmas service in peace.

"This is no longer a national issue but an international one, because all the international church organizations are monitoring this," Ansor chairman Nusron Wahid said. Nusron deplored the idea that the church's congregation should be hindered in the act of worship.

Ansor's Bogor city chapter head, Zaenul Mutaqin, said that his chapter would fully support the decision by the movement's headquarters. "We have not yet been issued any specific instructions, but we are ready," he said.