FRIENDS OF INDONESIA

Acts of Judas Thomas 

This short history was presented as part of the exhibition during the Fremont Celebrations connected with the 50th Indian Independence by Professor M. M. Ninan.

Acta Thomae, the apocryphal book is historically dated around end of first century soon after the martyrdom of St. Thomas. There are several ancients texts in existence in various languages such as Syriac, Greek, Latin, Armenian and Ethiopic. The original manuscripts are found in the British Museum.

This book gives a detailed account of Apostle Thomas’ labors in nine parts. The gist of the book is as follows: 

After the ascension of Jesus Christ, the Apostles met in Jerusalem and portioned all the countries of the world among themselves. India which at that time included all Middle East to the present India fell to the lot of St. Thomas. 

A certain merchant by name Habban - the Raja Vaidehika of Indian King Gundnaphor came to Jerusalem looking for a carpenter to take home to the King. Christ appeared to Habban and asked him whether he was there for a carpenter. He said “yes”. Jesus introduced himself as Jesus the Carpenter from Nazareth and sold his slave Thomas to Habban for twenty pieces of silver and pointed Thomas to him. Habban asked Thomas whether Jesus was his master. Thomas answered “Yes, he is my Lord.” Habban told Thomas, “He has sold you to me outright.” Thomas was dumb founded. In the morning, Thomas prayed, “Lord, Let thy will be done” and went with Habban. He took with him nothing except the twenty pieces of silver which Jesus gave him. 

They took the sea route to India and landed in a port called Sandruk Mahosa . Here Habban was received by the local King. They attended the wedding of the King’s daughter and St. Thomas demonstrated his ability of miracle healing on the troubled daughter of the King by the laying on of hands. There after they continued their journey in India. They reached the Kingdom of Gundaphorus and Thomas was commissioned to build a palace for the King in the shores of the River. However St. Thomas out of his pity gave away the money to the poor and could not build the palace. He was put in the prison. However that night the King’s brother Gad died and he was told the beautiful palace beside the river in the heavens was his brothers. He came back from the dead and told the story to the King. They were later converted to the Christian way. 

After ordaining one Xantippus (Xenophon) as deacon to the churches in North India St. Thomas traveled throughout India and converted many to Christianity . Among them are the names of: King of Mazdai, a noble lady by name Mygdonia, Tertia the queen of Mazdai. He was martyred outside the cities on a mountain at the hands of four soldiers. 

Read more about the Patron Saint of the Indonesian Orthodox Church »

Eastern Christian Presence in the Ancient History of Indonesia 

During the 7th century and during the greater parts of the Sriwijaya-Majapahit periods (9th-14th centuries), eastern Christians of the Antiochian Syrian tradition arrived, followed later by the Non-Chalcedonians (Armenians). Christianity was in Indonesia before Islam came to the Archipelago. However, the Christians disappeared from the Indonesian landscape and its historical record. It appears that the first Christian missionaries from Antioch did not ordain local Indonesian men to succeed them. After the last clergymen died, the local residents knew almost nothing of Orthodoxy, since the region was politically and geographically isolated. In the 11th century, an envoy of the Pope of Rome to Beijing, stopped over at the Pagarruyung Kingdom , West Sumatra and discovered some remnants of Christianity being practiced by local residents despite some three hundred years of isolation. From that early period until today, not one written record of Christianity survives, yet oral tradition preserved the names of three local bishops: Mar Yaballah, Mar Abdisho and Mar Denha. Most Indonesians do not know of these tenuous but deep Christian roots, and it should be stressed that it was Eastern Christianity that arrived to the island first.

The Coming of Western Christianity

In the 16th century the Portuguese came to Indonesia and brought with them Roman Catholicism. But it was the Dutch who managed to subdue Java, Indonesia, occupying it for 350 years. During their occupation missionaries arrived bringing with them Protestant Christianity. After defeating the Dutch, the Japanese occupied Indonesia in 1942. After the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Japanese power was defeated and the British ruled briefly over Indonesia. The Dutch, with the backing of the Allied Armies, wanted to return to Indonesia. The Indonesian people fought bravely against the colonialists, continuing their long struggle of fighting against foreign occupation. Finally Indonesia gained its independence on August 17, 1945, and became the modern Republic of Indonesia.

Indonesia has many ethnic and religious groups owing to the nature of the land and its history, Since its independence, the modern state of Indonesia recognizes only those religions, which existed and took active parts during the struggle for independence. The State Department of Religion recognizes only Islam, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Every religion must be categorized under these five recognized religions or be considered illegal.

Eastern Orthodoxy Before the GOI

“G.O.I” is an acronym for the Indonesian words:”Gereja Orthodox Indonesia” which means “The Indonesian Orthodox Church”. The Orthodox Church of the Russian tradition, the Russian Church Abroad opened the first Orthodox Church in Java in the 1930’s. In 1934, Priest Vasily Bystrov (later Archimandrite Innokentii) was appointed rector of a parish in Batavia in Java. This parish was to be part of the Harbin Diocese, in accordance with a request made by a resolution of His Eminence Archbishop Meletii of Harbin and Manchuria on November 16.

Upon arriving in Java, Fr. Vasily had to reorganize the Orthodox parish and establish a church in Bandung. This was accomplished with the permission of the Dutch Government, who granted a subsidy of 1,372 Guilders in 1936. On August 12, 1938, with the intercession of the parishioners of Annunciation Church in Java (by decree of the General Parish Assembly of May 29, 1938), Fr. Vasily was granted the extraordinary award of a kamilavka for his exceptionally fervent service to the Church (Ukase of the Diocesan Council of August 12, 1938, No. 1852). In October 1947, the Synod of Bishops of ROCOR awarded Father Vasily with a pectoral cross from the Holy Synod, elevated him to the rank of proto-priest.

In May 1950, Fr. Vasily wrote to his parish’s Archbishop, Tikhon of San Francisco: “After the transfer of power to the natives on January 1 of this year, life in Java has changed drastically for the worse in many respects, that is, normal, quiet life has ended and many Russian parishioners of Indonesia are leaving the country. Russians try to settle wherever they can, and worry about their future in Java, advising me to get an exit visa before it is too late... Most of the parishioners are clearly leaving Bandung this year.” Later in the same letter, Fr. Vasily writes: “One way or the other, one must leave Java, apparently, this is God’s will. The hour is approaching of my departure from Java, where I served for 16 years without leaving once; I mourn this for now, but one must humble oneself and thank God. I will inform Your Eminence in advance of the exact date of my departure from Java to San Francisco.” In the early 1950’s, Fr. Vasily left for the USA, where he was tonsured to monasticism and led the brethren of New-Root Hermitage in New York State.

The existence of a Russian Orthodox Church in Batavia (old Jakarta) during the last years of the Dutch colonial government in the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) and the first years of Indonesian government became known to Daniel after he had contact with Archbishop HILARION of Australia. The recent ordination of the new priests by Archbishop HILARION connected the two separate histories, the one in the Batavian era and the other in modern Indonesia.

The mission of GOI, when viewed in the light of the recent connection to the Church of Russia, is indeed a “rebirth” of Orthodoxy, while being completely independent from any The Beginning of the foreign mission endeavor. It is also a new “phase of modern mission” movement within Orthodoxy as the new mission is being led by a local son of Indonesia rather than by the missionary efforts of a foreign mission body. It is the Church for the Indonesians started by an Indonesian.

Legalization of GOI

With the growth of converts, an official recognition of Fr. Daniel’s work was very important. A foundation was formed as a first step to gaining legal recognition for the growing mission. This foundation was named as “Yayasan Dharma Tuhu” (“The Straight Doctrine Foundation”), and then, due to the objection of some people for its Hindu sounding name (i.e. “Dharma”), it was changed into “Yayasan Orthodox Injili Indonesia” (“The Indonesian Orthodox Evangelistic Foundation”) legalized with a notarized Acts “No 28, Surakarta, 12th July 1990”. Through this legal notarized foundation, an office was opened, with two workers, using the pavilion of Fr. Daniel’s rented house, and his empty dining room as a place of worship with a simple iconostasis. After some months the office moved to a rented room of a small hotel (“Hotel Kaloka”) in the middle of the city. This foundation later became what we know as the “Gereja Orthodox Indonesia” (“The Indonesian Orthodox Church”), and does not belong to any one jurisdiction, since there are no religious bodies that have headquarters outside of Indonesia. GOI is an umbrella organization for all Orthodox jurisdictions if they want to be legally recognized when operating in Indonesia, with Fr. Daniel B.D. Byantoro as the current president. This is the only legal Orthodox organization with Fr. Daniel Byantoro as the only legal president and founder of the organization. No foreigner is allowed to be a head of any religious organization in Indonesia.

Fr. Daniel had a difficult time acquiring a permit from the government for the Orthodox Church since the government recognizes only five religions, with the Orthodox Church failing to fall under either the Protestant or Roman Catholic designation. A secretary of the Semarang (Central Java, 3 hours away north of Solo) Roman Catholic Diocese was sent by his Bishop to see Fr. Daniel. A letter from the late Pope John Paul II to the Vatican Ambassador, Msgr. Petrus Sambi, in Jakarta advised him to take a look at the mission work in which Fr. Daniel was engaged. Msgr. Petrus Sambi invited Fr. Daniel to lunch in his residence in the Vatican Embassy in Jakarta. Fr. Daniel hoped the Roman Catholic Church might make room for the Orthodox Church under its legal umbrella in the Department of religion. But to his disappointment, when Fr. Daniel wrote a letter to the Indonesian Roman Catholic Council of Bishops asking for such help, the Council turned down his request. Also a letter was sent by the then President of Lutheran World Federation, Rev. Dr. Chilton to the President of the largest Lutheran Church: “ Huria Kristen Batak Protestan” the Rev. Dr. Soritua Nababan, asking him to help Fr. Daniel in legalizing the Orthodox Church in the Indonesian State Department of Religion, but nothing came out from that letter of appeal.

At this time Indonesia no longer had a canonical tie with Bishop Maximos of Pittsburgh because of internal hierarchical contention about who had the jurisdictional right over the newly developing Church of Indonesia. Metropolitan Dionysios of New Zealand was assigned and Fr. Daniel Byantoro came to be under his jurisdiction. By this time Fr. Daniel Byantoro had moved his office from “Hotel Kaloka” to a rental property belonging to a Muslim cleric. With the help of many friends during several visits to the USA, Fr. Daniel was able to purchase this property allowing the rented house in this slum to finally be used for worship. The “Holy Spirit“ Church, which later became “Holy Trinity” Church, had an iconostasis made from a blue curtain and later, one was created with a plated bamboo screen. Parishioners sat cross-legged on a plastic mat during the Liturgy. The icons were painted in a simple style by one of the parishioners. On September 24th, 1990 Fr. Daniel was elevated to Archimandrite at Holy Trinity Church of Solo during the visit of Metropolitan Dionysios and the then Archimandrite Soterios of Seoul, Korea and appointed as the “Vicar” of the Metropolitan for Indonesian Mission.

As the church continued its steady growth, Fr. Daniel Byantoro desperately needed to obtain legalization for this fledgeling Orthodox Church. A strong believer in the power of fasting and prayer, Fr. Daniel sought divine help for the situation. He went to East Java near his hometown, a 5 hour journey by bus from Solo, to rent a room in a Roman Catholic convent located high atop a mountain. He stayed there for 30 days and 30 nights praying, fasting and beseeching the help of God. At the end of those 30 days a call came to Fr. Daniel from Solo. He needed to return to Solo because the Director of the Central Java Department of Religion wanted to see him.

The Orthodox Church was legally recognized after many difficult struggles, and Fr. Daniel’s missionary effort eventually brought official government recognition of the Orthodox Church in Indonesia on November 30th, 1991 with a legal Act of Government:” Dirjen Bimas Kristen Depag R.I, No: F/Kep/189/3336/1991. This Act was then renewed with a legal Act of Government:” SK Dirjen Bimas Kristen Depag R.I. no.: F/Kep/Hk. 00.5/19/637/1996”, and was renewed again with a legal Act of Government: “SK Dirjen Bimas Kristen Depag R.I. no: F/Kep/HK.00.5/20/708/2001” on February 28th, 2001, and the latest renewal was the Act of Letter of Decision Number: DJ.III/Kep/HK. 00.5/190/3212/2006 to replace the previous Letter of Decision Number F/Kep. /Hk. 00.5/20/708/2001