Jesuits to return to Molucccas

Seven months after the Jesuit Refugee Services team based in Ambon was evacuated, they have announced plans to go back. JRS Indonesia director, Edi Mulyono SJ, writes: "We plan to revive the presence of JRS in the Moluccas at the end of the month. The team evacuated from Ambon in July last year following the escalation of sectarian violence there. We have heard the situation in the Mollucas is calm now." Last Thursday, Muslims attacked a Christian village on the Island of Ceram. The same village was attacked last August the Missionary News Services report. The Crisis Centre of the Catholic diocese of Ambon said that a vigilante group of about 500 Muslim men descended on the hamlet of Hatualang, near Piru on Ceramat. The group arrived in boats and outnumbered the local military security forces. One soldier who was guiding civilians to a safer location was shot.