On Feb. 10, dozens of Catholics held a candlelight vigil and prayer gathering in front of the apostolic nunciature in Jakarta, expressing their solidarity with the bishop.
The group of about 70 protesters carried posters reading "Vatican, We Ask" and demanded an explanation for Syukur’s resignation.
Syukur, 63, a Franciscan who previously declined to become a cardinal, announced his resignation before the diocesan curia council on Jan. 19, and the Vatican accepted it.
The resignation followed a probe by a Vatican-appointed team into several allegations against Syukur, who maintained: “I resigned not because I was guilty, but because I love the brotherhood and unity of the Church, especially in the Diocese of Bogor.”
The protesters, calling themselves "Catholic Solidarity for Bishop Paskalis Bruno Syukur," issued a statement on Feb.10, stating that the bishop's resignation has "raised serious questions and troubling inconsistencies." These concerns are shared not just by Catholics in Bogor diocese but also by Catholics across Indonesia, it said.
Soon after his resignation, Syukur said his decision was “not with a sense of loss, but with freedom of hearing, despite the pressures and difficult situations that accompanied it.”
The resignation came after two diocesan priests published an open letter accusing the bishop of abusing authority and finances, and having personal relationships with certain parties that impacted the diocese.
“Yet to this day, these allegations have never been publicly substantiated or conclusively proven,” the lay Catholics' statement said, adding that a decision appears to have been reached even before the truth of these accusations could be ascertained.
It further questioned the basis for the Vatican’s decision, saying Syukur’s statement prompted a fundamental question: “Pressure from whom, and by what force, can a bishop — even a prospective cardinal — be forced to resign?
“It is from this point that we earnestly question: Has Bishop Syukur s been treated correctly, justly, and with dignity?”
The lay group's statement said their solidarity with Syukur, “is not an act of defiance against the Church” nor “a demand for his reinstatement.”
It said Indonesian Catholics are formed in a tradition of democracy and respect for human rights and they have a right "to know what truly happened to our shepherd, how the decision was made, and how justice is upheld within the body of the Church.”
The statement called on the Vatican to conduct a thorough investigation by an independent team to examine the entire process, from the apostolic visitation to Syukur's resignation.
This, the statement said, was their “one clear and measurable demand.”
Yustinus Prastowo, a Catholic special staff member to the governor of Jakarta, said the bishop’s resignation “is not merely an administrative change or a normal event that passes after a night's sleep.”
Prastowo said that conflict is nothing new in the Church, which survives “not because conflicts are hidden, but because they are handled in the light, not in the shadow of prejudice and rumors.”
Robertus Robet, another layperson, said the ultimate question is whether Syukur has received fair, dignified treatment.
While the protesters demonstrated in front of the nunciature, Bishop Michael Pawlowics, the chargé d'affaires, along with Bishop Antonius Subianto Bunjamin of Bandung, who led the Vatican probe into Syukur, and other bishops, were in Flores to attend the ordination of Bishop Yohanes Hans Monteiro of Larantuka.
Aside from Syukur, no one in the Vatican or Indonesian Church has revealed the reason for Syukur's resignation, nor has anyone in the hierarchy responded to the protest.
A Church source told UCA News that, before resigning, Syukur had gone to the Vatican earlier last month to explain the accusations against him.
Born on the Catholic-majority island of Flores, Syukur has served as the Franciscan provincial of Indonesia twice since 2001.
He was appointed bishop of Bogor in 2013.
From 2021 to 2025, he served as the secretary general of the National Bishops' Conference. Pope Francis named him a cardinal on Oct. 6, 2024, but he declined.
He returned to the Franciscan convent in Jakarta on Feb. 7, in a ceremony that was attended by his supporters, including his flock from Bogor and fellow friars.