Ary Hermawan, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar

You should carry your heart to church, not your bag. If you take a bag, the tight security checks in churches across Bali over Christmas this year may cause you an inconvenience.

This advice came from a Christmas committee member and the police, ahead of Christmas celebrations in Bali.

“We always tell the local community not to bring bags with them to Christmas mass,” Denpasar Cathedral of the Holy Spirit secretary YB. Soetiksno told The Jakarta Post.

The cathedral, which caters for some 6,000 Catholics at Christmas mass annually, will be equipped with a security gate and a metal detector.

“It will make life easier for security officers if Christians do not bring bags,” Bali Police Chief Insp. Gen. Paulus Purwoko told reporters, after addressing hundreds of personnel deployed to safeguard Christmas and New Year celebrations.

Purwoko cited several church bombings, including those on Christmas eve 2000, saying tighter security measures were needed. The alleged perpetrators disguised themselves as worshipers to infiltrate crowds and place bombs in churches.

“Terrorism remains a potential hazard,” he said.

With Noordin M. Top (a mastermind and one of the leaders of the Jamaah Islamiyah terrorist network) still at large, the potential for terrorist attacks could not be ignored, Purwoko said, since he may have recruited new militants.

Intelligence sources had not found any documents or other information purporting to another bombing in Bali, he said.

“We have not found any documents pointing to another terrorists attack in Bali.”

The police have deployed some 3,000 personnel to manage its Operation Candle 2008, which began one week before Christmas and will end one week after New Year.

Bali Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. A.S. Reniban said the operation would be backed by 500 military personnel from Udayana Military Command.

Security gates and metal detectors would be placed in at least eight main churches in Denpasar and Badung regencies. A number of police personnel would standby at churches and police dogs may also be used.

Reniban said the tight measures were not meant to create a tense atmosphere and that Christians should not be afraid or reluctant to attend churches.

“They have no reason to be afraid,” he said, “we have taken preventive measures.”

Soetiksno said 45 people from the community would be empowered to safeguard Christmas celebrations at the Parochial of the Holy Spirit, that covers the Catholic community across East Denpasar.

“We have also notified the village authorities and asked them to support the security operation,” he said.

Some churches have often asked for security backup in the form of Balinese traditional guards, known locally as pecalang, but not all pecalang were able to help, he said.

“Sometimes they come, sometimes they don’t.”

Reniban said the police did not officially involve pecalang in the operation, but left the option there for each church to do so.

Bali has twice been bombed in “terrorist” attacks, once in 2002 and again in 2005 — killing some 202 and 23 people from various countries, respectively.

The police have since beefed-up security measures on the resort island, especially during religious celebrations or at times when the island hosts international events.

The end of 2007 is perhaps the busiest period yet for Bali Police, with Idul Adha, the recent United Nations Climate Change Conference, Christmas and New Year all occurring in a fairly short time frame.

The police said raids and ID checks on migrants living in Bali, which started before Idul Fitri and the climate conference, would continue.