The pastor of Aceh province's only Catholic parish said he hopes the peace deal signed by the Indonesian government and separatist rebels can be implemented after several decades of violent conflict.

Indonesia's chief negotiator, Minister of Justice and Human Rights Hamid Awaluddin, and Malik Mahmud, the exiled leader of the Free Aceh Movement, signed the treaty Aug. 15 in Helsinki, Finland.

The agreement ended a three-decade conflict that has taken an estimated 15,000 mostly civilian lives in the oil-rich province.

"Many Aceh people believe peace will come," Franciscan Father Ferdinando Severi, pastor of Most Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Banda Aceh, told UCA News, an Asian church news agency based in Thailand, Aug. 15. "They enthusiastically and happily welcomed it with public prayers and a ... parade, shouting 'Peace, peace, peace.'"

Father Severi, who has served in Aceh since 1991, expressed some caution about the peace accord.

"We Aceh people fully support the peace deal, but we hope both sides will honestly and transparently implement it," he said, noting that some factions of the Free Aceh Movement, known as GAM, do not agree with the terms.

"You know, GAM does not have just one single front, and some GAM fronts could destroy the peace deal," he said.

The priest also said he regrets that the peace accord said nothing about peace, "yet the main purpose of meetings held thus far has been peace."

Father Severi said Aceh residents always pray for peace "because we, all Aceh people, really yearn for peace in the wake of the natural disaster --- earthquake and tsunami --- that destroyed our lives" late last year.

He said the Dec. 26 calamity that devastated the province helped speed the peace process following three decades of bloodshed. International media reported in April that Indonesia's National Disaster Relief Coordination Agency confirmed nearly 127,000 people had died and more than 37,000 others were still missing from the earthquake and tsunamis. Most of the dead and missing were Acehnese.

The tsunami had its most devastating impact in Aceh, where Catholic Relief Services, the U.S. bishops' agency for overseas aid and development, has been working with the archdiocese to construct and repair houses and renovate damaged schools.

"Civilians see themselves as victims of armed conflict between GAM and the Indonesian army," Father Severi said.

He said peace will take root in Aceh when the rebels honestly and transparently give up their weapons and the Indonesian government withdraws its security forces.

The priest also expressed hope that the central government would share Aceh's natural oil and gas wealth equitably, and he urged Catholics to join efforts to develop peace in the province, where the overwhelming majority practice such a conservative form of Islam that Aceh is called the "terrace of Mecca."

Under the accord, Free Aceh Movement rebels gave up their demand for independence and agreed to give up their weapons and integrate into civil society. In return, the Indonesian government offered amnesty for rebel political prisoners, economic compensation and the opportunity to create political parties in the province.

The government also agreed to withdraw the central government's army and police forces and to leave local security forces in charge. It also agreed on formation of a human-rights court and a truth and reconciliation commission.

Military and civilian officials from the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are to monitor implementation of the deal, concluded after seven months of negotiations.