In Manokwari, the departure of 210 participants on interfaith religious journeys from Papua Barat (West Papua) became more than a farewell ceremony. It was presented by the provincial government as a practical expression of religious tolerance, social harmony, and unity, with representatives of Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism travelling to important religious destinations in Saudi Arabia, Israel, India, and China.
Governor Dominggus Mandacan formally released the participants at Swiss Belhotel Manokwari on Thursday, September 24, 2026. The provincial government funded the program under the region’s special autonomy framework, which brought together people from seven regencies across Papua Barat.
For the governor, the journey was not simply about travelling to places associated with religious history. He urged participants to return with values that could be applied in their families, workplaces, and communities, including faith, honesty, compassion, tolerance, and social responsibility.
The message is particularly significant in a province where religious diversity forms an important part of community life. Rather than presenting religious differences as a source of division, the provincial government has framed the program as an opportunity to strengthen relationships across faith communities.
A Farewell Ceremony with a Broader Message
The ceremony took place in Manokwari on the morning of September 24, bringing together government representatives and participants preparing for different religious journeys.
The 210 participants came from seven regencies throughout Papua Barat. They were divided according to four religious destinations and forms of pilgrimage.
The largest groups were the 91 Christian participants travelling to Jerusalem and the 88 Muslim participants travelling to Makkah for Umrah. Another 15 Hindu participants were scheduled to travel to India, while 15 Buddhist participants were scheduled to travel to China.
The Hindu group originally consisted of 16 participants, but one person died before departure, reducing the number who ultimately travelled to 15.
The destinations themselves reflect the diversity of the program.
Makkah represents one of the world’s most important Islamic pilgrimage destinations. Jerusalem carries deep historical and spiritual significance for Christianity. India is central to Hindu religious traditions, while China is connected with the Buddhist pilgrimage program described by the provincial government.
Bringing the four groups together under one provincial program gave the departure ceremony a significance beyond the individual journeys.
The shared public moment brought together different religious communities.
Dominggus Mandacan: Pilgrimage Is More Than Travel
In his message to the participants, Governor Dominggus Mandacan emphasized that pilgrimage should not be understood merely as physical travel.
He described the journey as an opportunity for self-reflection, more profound understanding of faith, and remembrance of religious history, while also encouraging participants to use the experience as motivation to live better lives.
“Pilgrimage is not merely a physical journey to a place with religious historical value,” Mandacan said, according to Papua Kini. He described it as an opportunity for reflection, deeper religious understanding, and learning from the history of faith.
That message formed the central theme of the governor’s remarks.
The government was not presenting the program solely as financial assistance for overseas travel. The stated expectation was that participants would bring something back to Papua Barat.
That could mean stronger personal discipline, greater social awareness, or a deeper commitment to peaceful relations between communities.
The governor also asked participants to maintain the good name of Papua Barat during their travels.
He urged them to demonstrate courtesy, discipline, tolerance, and mutual respect wherever they went.
For a group travelling internationally, that request carried another layer of meaning.
The participants were not only travelling as individuals. They were also described as representatives of their province.
Four Faiths, One Provincial Program
The composition of the program is one of its most distinctive features.
The provincial government brought together Muslim, Christian, Hindu, and Buddhist participants within the same religious journey program.
The participants did not travel to the same destination or follow the same religious rituals. Their journeys remained distinct according to their respective faith traditions.
What connected them was the provincial program and the government’s emphasis on mutual respect.
That approach reflects a broader understanding of religious harmony.
Tolerance does not require different communities to share identical beliefs. It requires them to coexist, respect each other’s religious practices, and recognize their common responsibilities as members of the same society.
The Papua Barat program placed that principle in a visible public setting.
The participants were provided the opportunity to deepen their religious experiences while simultaneously being reminded of their responsibilities toward the wider community.
Government Support and Special Autonomy
The program also has a policy dimension.
According to the Head of the Papua Barat Provincial Bureau of People’s Welfare, Dirsia Natalia Atururi, the program is grounded in Article 53, paragraph 1, of the Special Autonomy Law, which she said guarantees religious rights while also emphasizing the responsibility to maintain harmony.
Funding was provided through the provincial budget and special autonomy resources, although the specific funding sources varied according to the religious journey.
The Tabura Pos report indicated that the provincial government’s APBD and special autonomy funding financed the overall program. More detailed reporting from Link Papua said the Hindu and Buddhist journeys were financed through regional own-source revenue, while the Christian pilgrimage to Jerusalem received funding through the one percent special autonomy allocation.
This distinction is important because it indicates that the program was not presented as a single undifferentiated expenditure.
The provincial government’s broader religious and social welfare programs supported different religious journeys through various budget mechanisms.
At the same time, the government linked the program to the constitutional and special autonomy framework for protecting religious life and encouraging harmony.
Why Religious Harmony Matters in Papua Barat
Papua Barat’s social landscape is diverse.
Communities with different religious traditions live alongside one another across the province. In such an environment, maintaining social trust can be as important as building roads, schools, and economic infrastructure.
Mandacan explicitly made that connection during the farewell ceremony.
He said regional development should not be measured only through infrastructure, economic growth, or public services. It should also involve the formation of a society with moral values, integrity, and social concern.
That argument broadens the definition of development.
A road can connect two communities physically. A school can improve access to education. A health facility can improve access to medical care.
But social trust determines how people interact once those communities are connected.
Religious tolerance is therefore part of the social infrastructure of a region.
From Spiritual Experience to Community Responsibility
The governor’s expectations did not end with the participants’ departure.
He urged them to bring the values gained during their journeys back to Papua Barat.
Those values included faith, honesty, love, tolerance, and social concern.
The emphasis on returning home is important.
The program’s intended benefit was not described solely as an individual religious experience. Participants were expected to become positive examples within their communities.
Mandacan encouraged them to apply what they learned to family life, workplaces, and wider society.
This creates a bridge between religious experience and civic responsibility.
A pilgrimage may begin as a personal journey, but the values associated with it can influence how individuals interact with neighbors, colleagues, and other members of society.
That is the social dimension the Papua Barat government has emphasized.
A Message That Extends Beyond Religious Communities
The program also sends a message to the wider public.
By publicly bringing together four religious communities, the provincial government demonstrated that religious diversity can be incorporated into a shared regional program.
The participants did not have to abandon their traditions to participate in a common public activity.
Instead, each group travelled according to its faith while sharing the same provincial platform.
That distinction is important for understanding the meaning of tolerance.
Tolerance is not necessarily about eliminating differences. It is about ensuring that differences do not prevent people from living together peacefully.
Such an approach can become particularly valuable in Papua Barat, where family, customary, religious, and community networks influence social relationships.
The International Dimension
The journeys also give the program an international character.
Participants are travelling beyond Indonesia to destinations that have shaped religious history for centuries.
Makkah, Jerusalem, India, and China each occupy different places in the religious imagination of the four communities represented in the program.
For Papua Barat participants, the experience may also provide exposure to societies outside their home province.
The governor’s request that they maintain proper conduct while abroad therefore has significance beyond personal behavior.
They were encouraged to represent Papua Barat with courtesy, discipline, and mutual respect.
In that sense, the program combines religious experience with a form of people-to-people diplomacy.
The participants are not diplomats in a formal sense, but their conduct and interactions abroad can contribute to how communities from Papua Barat are encountered by people elsewhere.
The Roots of a Long-Running Program
The program is also not entirely new.
Mandacan stated that he initiated the religious journey program during his first term as governor in 2003.
That history gives the 2026 departure a longer institutional context.
The program has evolved into an ongoing initiative rather than a one-time event.
Its continuation across different periods of government also indicates that religious support has remained part of the provincial welfare agenda.
The 2026 program brings that tradition into the current context, with four religious communities participating and 210 people travelling from seven regencies.
Religious Harmony as Part of Papua’s Development Story
International discussions often frame Papua through the lenses of security, political tensions, and economic development.
Those issues remain important, but the daily social life of the province is equally significant.
Communities must maintain relationships, families must work together, children must attend schools, and religious groups must be able to conduct their activities peacefully.
The Papua Barat program illustrates one government approach to that social dimension.
It does not replace other development priorities.
Roads, healthcare, education, economic opportunities, and public administration remain essential.
But the provincial government argues that development should also produce a society characterized by integrity, social responsibility, and mutual respect.
The religious journey program was presented as one contribution to that broader objective.
An Opportunity to Strengthen Interfaith Understanding
The success of such a program cannot be measured only by the number of people who travel.
The longer-term question is what happens after they return.
If participants share their experiences with their communities, encourage mutual respect, and become examples of tolerance, the social value of the program could extend beyond the 210 people who travelled.
The sources do not provide quantitative evidence yet showing such an impact.
That is why the program should be understood as an initiative with a stated social objective rather than as proof that religious harmony has already been measurably improved.
The government’s expectation, however, is clear.
The participants are being asked to transform personal spiritual experiences into everyday conduct.
That means returning home with lessons that can influence families, workplaces, and communities.
A Shared Journey Despite Different Destinations
There is a simple image at the heart of the story.
Two hundred and ten people gathered in Manokwari before departing for four different religious destinations.
Some would travel to Makkah. Others would travel to Jerusalem, India, or China.
Their religious traditions were different.
Their destinations were different.
Yet they departed under one provincial program, carrying the same request from their governor: return with stronger faith, greater tolerance, and a deeper commitment to social responsibility.
That shared journey is what gives the program its broader significance.
Conclusion
The release of 210 participants in Papua Barat’s 2026 interfaith religious pilgrimage program represents an approach to development that extends beyond physical infrastructure and economic indicators.
Governor Domingus Mandacan used the September 24 ceremony in Manokwari to emphasize that religious journeys should become opportunities for reflection, deeper faith, and stronger social responsibility. He asked participants to maintain the good name of Papua Barat and demonstrate courtesy, discipline, tolerance, and mutual respect during their travels.
The 210 participants came from seven regencies and represented four religious communities. Eighty-eight Muslims travelled for Umrah to Makkah, 91 Christians travelled to Jerusalem, 15 Hindus travelled to India, and 15 Buddhists travelled to China.
For the provincial government, the program represents more than religious tourism.
It is part of an effort to strengthen social relationships in a diverse province and to encourage religious values to translate into everyday conduct.
The broader lesson is that peace and social cohesion are built not only through formal policies but also through ordinary relationships between neighbors, families, and communities.
Papua Barat’s experience suggests that religious diversity can become a foundation for unity when communities are given space to practice their faith while also being encouraged to respect one another.
The 210 participants will eventually return to Papua Barat.
What they bring home will shape the next chapter of the program.
If their journeys become stories of faith, tolerance, compassion, and mutual respect shared with their communities, the impact of the initiative could extend well beyond the farewell ceremony in Manokwari.
For a province as diverse as Papua Barat, that may be one of the most important journeys of all.
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