page_title: Christianity in Indonesia
section_title: East Nusa Tenggara
hierarchical_section_title: Christianity in Indonesia / History / East Nusa Tenggara
caption_attribution_description: Bahasa Indonesia: Gereja Masehi Injili di Timor di Labuan Bajo, Flores, Nusa Tenggara Timur, Indonesia English: Dutch reformed church "Gereja Masehi Injili di Timor" in Labuan Bajo, Flores Island, Province of Nusa Tenggara Timur, Indonesia
context_page_description: Christianity is Indonesia's second-largest religion, after Islam. Indonesia also has the second-largest Christian population in Southeast Asia after the Philippines, the largest Protestant population in Southeast Asia, and the fourth-largest Christian population in Asia after the Philippines, China and India. Indonesia's 28.6 million Christians constitute 10.72% of the country's population in 2018, with 7.60% Protestant and 3.12% Catholic. Some provinces in Indonesia are majority Christian.
context_section_description: Portuguese traders ventured from Malacca to Timor to purchase sandalwood. During their trading missions they were frequently becalmed, and during this time are said to have converted numerous people of Solor island, Timor and Flores. Hearing of these conversions, three Dominican missionaries were sent from Malacca, arriving and establishing a church in 1562 in Flores. The mission was given financial support from the Portuguese in Goa, enabling the construction of mission stations in the area.
  A major setback came when two headmen were imprisoned and mistreated by the Portuguese in 1598, resulting in a rebellion and desecration of churches throughout the region, as those opposed to the Portuguese, many of whom had been previously converted to Islam in the early 16th century, attacked the Portuguese and the Dominican mission. Subsequent setbacks came in the form of the arrival of the Dutch, who allied against the Portuguese Christians.
  A new mission was established in 1617, which successfully furthered the spread of Catholicism in the region, including minor military ventures led from Larantuka on Flores, rejecting the dominionship of Islamic Makassar. 'Black' Portuguese control over Larantuka, and influence also over Timor, was settled by a truce with the Dutch in 1661. The Catholic community in east Flores was strengthened by the expulsion of Catholics from Makassar in 1660. In Portuguese Timor the Portuguese mission at Lifau (which supported the nominal cathedral of the Diocese of Malacca, as the Dutch would no longer tolerate one there) was in conflict with the Dutch at Kupang, and wars were fought between the two sides with Catholic villages regarded as Portuguese and therefore enemies of the Dutch. In the first half of the 18th century 'Portuguese'-supporting factions were defeated entirely by the Dutch in West Timor, confining Catholicism to the eastern part of that island.
  The Dominican mission declined in the late 18th century, and in 1817 the last priest covering Flores died. Many Catholics reverted to pagan practices, but still, thousands remained, continuing to follow Catholic pageantry. Portugal, severely weakened, withdrew from all but East Timor, but thanks to treaties signed in the 1850s, freedom of religion was guaranteed in areas being exchanged between the two countries. Following this treaty Catholicism strengthened considerably in Flores after 1860. In the western part of Flores, Dutch effective control over the area since 1907 led to the support of the spread of Catholicism among the Manggarai.
caption: Dutch reformed church "Gereja Masehi Injil di Timor" in Labuan Bajo, Nusa Tenggara Timur
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