In late June, 36 Christian students gathered at a spacious white villa in Sukabumi in Indonesia’s West Java for a retreat organized by Indonesian Christian Youth Movement. Ranging from elementary to high school ages, they sang worship songs, listened to sermons, and played games.
Suddenly, on the afternoon of June 27, a mob of about 200 Muslims marched to the home shouting, “Destroy that house!” according to video clips posted on social media. Claiming that the group was unlawfully using the private residence as a religious worship site, they stormed the place, forcing the teachers and children out of the house. The mob damaged the home’s main gate, windows, gazebo, garden, and toilets, according to media reports. They also threw a motorbike into a nearby river.
Rita Muljartono, a leader at the retreat, noted that when the mob arrived, “we were all in shock, and we were trying to calm down and trying to keep the kids calm, and we went out of the room to get into the car.” She recalled in a video she posted on Instagram, “And it happened so fast that the kids couldn’t get their clothes, their bags, their equipment. We just herded them into the car.”
As they evacuated the premises, Muljartono noted all of their cars had been destroyed, as the mob had thrown rocks and broken their windows.
“This incident was really traumatizing for us and for the children in particular, as they experienced it firsthand,” she said in the video. She noted that even after the children returned home, they had trouble sleeping and have been afraid of loud noises.
After the homeowner’s younger brother filed a report on the vandalism, the police detained eight people involved in the destruction of the villa.
Christian groups as well as human rights organizations have decried the attack, noting that Indonesian law does not prohibit Christians from worshiping outside church property. Indonesia has the largest Muslim population of any country in the world, yet its government is secular and based on the principals of Pancasila: a political philosophy of monotheism, civilized humanity, national unity, deliberative democracy, and social justice.
Still, attacks on churches and Christian groups are increasing in Indonesia as government officials question whether to regulate non-church buildings serving as “prayer houses,” or places for Christians to offer prayers, praise, and worship. (The house used for the retreat would be considered a prayer house.)
“Worship like this does not have to be restricted, because it is an inherent right of religious individuals, a human right,” said Darwin Darmawan, general secretary of the Communion of Churches in Indonesia (Persekutuan Gereja-Gereja di Indonesia, PGI). “And in my opinion, as long as it does not interfere [with people around them], neighbors or the community should not prohibit it.”
Tangkil village head Ijang Sehabudin, said that the Sukabumi attack stemmed from information circulating among residents on the morning of the attack. A video stated that young people staying at the home of Maria Veronica Ninna were singing Christian worship songs.
Ijang said he and other local leaders went to the house, asking the retreat organizer to stop the gathering, but the group ignored the request. As they returned to their office to write a formal appeal letter, the mob had already started marching toward the house. “They felt that their environmental rights were being disturbed because this house is legally only a living place, not a place of worship,” Ijang told a local publication. He also said it wasn’t the first time Christians had worshiped in the house.
In a meeting between the homeowner’s brother, Yongki Dien, and local officials after the vandalism, Yongki denied the accusations by local residents that the house was a place of worship. Rather he said they used it for “just gathering and praying normally,” adding that he had coordinated the meetings with his neighbors.
Yongki agreed to stop holding religious activities at the home. The local government will compensate the family with $6,250 for the damages.
Recent years have seen an increase of religious freedom violations, according to reports from the Setara Institute. In 2024, the group recorded 402 violations—including church closures, vandalism, and mob attacks—compared to 329 the year before. West Java was the province with the highest number of violations in 2024 at 38, as Islamic right-wing groups have a strong influence in local politics.
Securing a building permit to construct church buildings in Indonesia is difficult, as a 2006 law requires churches to secure signatures of approval from 60 Christians and 90 people from another faith. Between then and 2015, more than 1,000 churches closed.
In late July, a group of Muslim men disrupted a Christian gathering and damaged the facilities of a prayer house belonging to Indonesian Faithful Christian Church’s Anugerah Padang congregation in West Sumatra. The attackers threw objects, injuring two children who were attending a service. Earlier that month, hundreds of Muslims in West Java protested the construction of a church building, claiming the church leaders had failed to communicate enough with the community about construction plans. In South Sulawesi, local officials denied a Catholic church a building permit after residents of the village voted against it. The church had waited 45 years for the permit.
The PGI, which represents 104 churches in the country, urged churches to continue worship and not to retaliate against the recent vandalism. Darmawan, the general secretary, said that any churches that gather for worship in buildings that aren’t legally church buildings should try to get the needed permits. Yet he also urged the government to facilitate and expedite the process for churches.
He also calls on congregations to “build good relationships with the surrounding community so that people realize the presence of the church is not a threat to their faith.”
Anis Hidayah, chair of the National Human Rights Commission, deplored the attack on worshipers in Sukabumi.
“This has actually harmed the right to freedom of religion and belief, which is a basic right that is not only regulated in the human rights law but also in the constitution and international conventions on civil and political rights,” Hidayah said.
Questions over permits for religious activities are not an excuse for residents to attack others, she added. She also encouraged different faith communities to engage in dialogue and understand the different styles of worship in other religions. For Muslims, corporate worship takes place in a mosque, which may make it more difficult for them to understand why Christians gather outside the church.
The head of the Indonesia’s Center for Religious Harmony, Muhammad Adib Abdushomad, argued that as a growing number of Christians use non-church buildings as prayer houses, the government needs to regulate them to prevent tensions in the community.
While prayer houses are “a religious expression guaranteed by the constitution,” their purpose as a place of worship “has an impact on the public space,” Abdushomad said in a statement. “So there is wisdom in its implementation and indeed this type of prayer house does not yet have formal procedures that can be used as a reference.”
Yet Christians view requiring permits for prayer houses as an overreach.
“The context in Indonesia: We have regulation that if you want to construct a place of worship, you have to get a permit with many requirements,” said Irma Simanjuntak, who attends an ethnic Batak church in North Sumatra’s Pematangsiantar. “But now the radical community also prohibits worship activity in retreat houses and in our houses.”
Rio Boelan, a member of the Protestant Church in Western Indonesia in Bali, noted that while it’s important to inform local officials if they are holding a retreat, “worship doesn’t require a permit because it’s a human right.”
Meanwhile, Muljartono, the teacher at the Sukabumi retreat, agreed.
“As Christians, we still have to worship,” she said in the video. “It can be anywhere, either at home or in church.”
