The religious landscape in West Papua is highly various. Two German Protestant missionaries, Carl Ottow and Johan Gottlieb Geissler, first introduced Christianity to West Papua in 1855, when they landed at Mansinam isle, near the city of Manokwari, the capital of Papua Barat province. Later, after the establishment of the Dutch government posts in different areas, the expansion of colonial authority was accompanied by the Papuans of Christian religion.. In order to prevent interference in each other’s work but also to cover all of the area, the missionaries agreed for West Papua areas to be influenced into Protestant and Catholic religion. After awhile, Christianity also became an important component in the development of an upcoming Papuan nationalism. |
During the last decade, religious tensions between Christians and Muslims have become more visible and certain areas show a higher risk or religiously motivated clashes.
Islam in West Papua shows the characteristics of the local people, resulting of 2 or more religious landscape. Under the Dutch control, it was not recognized and West Papua was given a massive Christian identity, non-Muslim identity.
Islam in West Papua shows the characteristics of the local people, resulting of 2 or more religious landscape. Under the Dutch control, it was not recognized and West Papua was given a massive Christian identity, non-Muslim identity.