Religion

Given that less than 10 percent of Canadian Indonesians are Muslim, they play a relatively minor role in the Islamic community in Canada, and few other members of the faith seem aware of Indonesia’s status as the country with the largest Muslim population in the world. Among non-Muslims, especially the Chinese, some 50 percent are believed to profess some form of Christianity. Some were adherents in the homeland, having been educated in mission schools, and Christianity may have been a factor in emigration. Many others joined a church after arriving in Canada since becoming a Christian was a sign of willingness to accept the host culture. There appears to be no Indonesian presence in Buddhist or other Chinese temples in Canada.

Approximately half the Indonesian Christians are Roman Catholics, but they reserve the term “Christian” exclusively for Protestants. A Catholic congregation has been meeting in Toronto since 1979, when a few families were able to persuade a Dutch priest with experience in Indonesia to allow them to use his church for a monthly mass. Eventually this group became a permanent congregation. Although its members may also attend mass at other churches, the Ummat Katholik Indonesia (Indonesian Catholic Community, or UKI), as it is known, has acquired social and ritual significance for Indonesians in the Toronto area. Its importance was enhanced when the congregation was able to sponsor a full-time priest, a pribumi from Java. Under immigration regulations he was restricted to a student visa, however, requiring him to study theology part-time at the University of Toronto.

The Indonesian Catholic Community operates as a major social and recreational centre for its members, with special activities for women, youth, and seniors, and provides one of the few places where the community can gather as a whole and where Indonesian is still spoken. It has about 300 adult members, with many more adherents, and is animated by a core of middle-class women, most of whom also work full-time. Some are deeply involved in other, non-ethnic charities, such as halfway houses and seniors’ homes. Indonesians are anxious to be seen as responsible Canadian citizens, but they avoid identification with visible-minority causes.

At about the same time as the Catholics were becoming organized, a group of Protestants in Toronto from various denominational backgrounds began meeting informally with university students. Initially, they were led by a Balinese pribumi, trained as a pastor but working as a printer. By 1980 a permanent congregation had emerged, the Indonesian Christian Fellowship, which met in rented quarters. It advertised in Indonesia for a full-time pastor, with the expenses to be borne by the congregation. A prosperous and growing membership has allowed this congregation to move to a suburban church, where over 300 individuals engage in various religious and social activities. Among the programs are missions to other Indonesian communities in North, Central, and South America, where some Canadian residents have relatives. The Indonesian Christian Fellowship draws members from many Christian backgrounds, including some Catholics, and has had to evolve a character of its own. Officially non-denominational, it has moved in a more charismatic direction over the years, and through house meetings and personal contacts it has brought many new immigrants into its fold. All services and social events are in Indonesian, although most worshippers speak fluent English.

Between them, the two churches provide much of the meaningful social and recreational life for Indonesians; status is gained by conspicuous participation, donations, the catering of Indonesian delicacies, the loaning of cottages for retreats, and so on. A shared sense of being Indonesian sometimes overrides sectarian differences, and members of the Catholic community and Protestant Christian fellowship gather for ecumenical services. Such events reflect that fact that some Indonesians move between the two groups and have family members in each. The churches evidently fill the needs of a traditional ethnic association.