MUMBAI – As the world’s largest Muslim nation heads to the polls on 14 February, which also happens to be Ash Wednesday this year, the country’s bishops are making special provisions to ensure the country's minority Catholic population can participate in what is shaping up to be a tense election.
The bishops are also calling on Indonesians to uphold the country’s constitution, which guarantees religious freedom, amid ongoing concerns about the future of democracy in the country. In order to ensure that the country's roughly nine million Catholics, representing just over three per cent of the 273 million population, are able to take part in the election, some dioceses in the country have decided to hold Ash Wednesday services either on Tuesday, 13 Feb., or Thursday, 15 Feb., depending on local circumstances.
