KUALA LUMPUR (UCAN): Indonesia’s Constitutional Court upheld a nearly five-decade-old law banning interfaith marriages, rejecting the petition of Ramos Patege, a Catholic man, seeking to marry his Muslim partner. Seven out of nine judges dismissed the lawsuit and defended the 1974 Marriage Act in verdict handed down on January 31.
Patege’s counsel argued that the law violated the constitutional rights of the couple, and infringed on their freedom to embrace a religion and belief of their choice.
Wahiduddin Adams, one of the judges, stated that a provision of the laws states that “a marriage is said to be valid if it is carried out according to the laws of each religion and belief” and so it does not impede anyone’s freedom of religion and belief.
“The regulatory provisions are about legal marriage according to religion and belief, not about the right to choose a religion and belief,” he said.
Adams also claimed that the choice to embrace a religion and belief remains the right of each person to choose, adhere to, and believe in it.
He also said there had been no change in circumstances and conditions or new developments related to issues of constitutionality that warranted a change in the law.
In the Catholic Church, interfaith marriage is an obstacle, but a legal marriage can be done if there is a dispensation from the bishop and vicar general
Father Postinus Gulo
“The court remains in its stance on the constitutionality of a valid marriage, which is done according to religion and belief,” he said.
Meanwhile, two other judges, Suhartoyo and Daniel Yusmic Foekh, a Catholic, gave concurring opinions, stating that the law needed to be changed in order to answer the real realities at this time, but left that task to the parliament and the government.
Holy Cross Father Postinus Gulo, a graduate of the Canon Law at the Pontifical Gregoriana University and a member of the Marriage Tribunal at the Diocese of Bandung in West Java, said he was saddened by the court’s decision.
“In the Catholic Church, interfaith marriage is an obstacle, but a legal marriage can be done if there is a dispensation from the bishop and vicar general,” Father Gulo explained. He lamented that the law made it impossible for couples to register interfaith marriages in the state.
“We must realise that this is a challenge for us, as well as an opportunity to continue to be faithful and proud of our Catholic faith,” he said.
Ahmad Nurcholish, programme director and interfaith marriage counsellor at Indonesian Conference on Religion and Peace said that this decision shows that the government is actually going backward, while religious communities are becoming more open.
For example, in Islam and Catholicism, an Islamic marriage ceremony and a blessing in the Church can be held. That way it is legal according to Islam and legal according to the rules of the Catholic Church
Ahmad Nurcholish
Nurcholish said religions allow their own people to marry people from another faith, sometimes conducting marriage ceremonies of both religions.
“For example, in Islam and Catholicism, an Islamic marriage ceremony and a blessing in the Church can be held. That way it is legal according to Islam and legal according to the rules of the Catholic Church,” he said.
He said that the state does not need to get involved in debates on the pros and cons, but give citizens the freedom to make their own choices.
He said the law has driven interfaith couples to find ways to get around it, including by marrying abroad, such as in Singapore, Thailand, Australia, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, the US, and Germany.
“For those who do not have enough money, the law is, of course, a problem,” he said.
Nurcholish said his organisation, which partners with Harmoni Mitra Madania, has helped officiate the marriages of 1,576 couples of different faith since 2005.
The group offers counselling and advocacy for about 30 interfaith couples every month.
“This reality is ignored by the Constitutional Court and the government,” he said.
