Jesuits' 150th anniversary celebrations stress service

August 04, 2009
Idian Catholic

JAKARTA : Jesuits in Indonesia have celebrated 150 years of the arrival of their first missioners in the country by stressing the society's service to the nation.

The Jesuits began working in Indonesia on July 9, 1859 when two Dutch Jesuit Fathers Martin van den Elzen and John Baptist Pallinckx arrived in then Batavia, now Jakarta. Today, 357 Jesuits carry out their educational, intellectual, pastoral, spiritual, social and communications work in eight dioceses on Java, Papua, and Sumatra islands.

The society's Indonesian province has also sent missioners to Cambodia, Japan, Micronesia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Italy, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor Leste and Turkey.

More than 100 Jesuit priests, brothers and seminarians as well as laypeople attended a Mass on July 31 in Assumption of the Virgin Cathedral Church in Jakarta to mark the anniversary. It was concelebrated by Jesuit Father Thomas Aquino Deshi Ramadhani and four other Jesuit priests."We Jesuits see ourselves in our fellowship and our services," Father Ramadhani, a lecturer of biblical studies at the Jakarta-based Driyarkara School of Philosophy, said in his homily.

Outside of the Mass, several Jesuit priests shared their views with UCA News on the order's presence in the country over the past 150 years.

Father Albertus Hani Rudi Hartoko of St. Therese Church in Jakarta said he hopes that more Jesuit priests would come to serve in parishes. There are just 52 Jesuit parish priests in the country and many of them are in their 50s and 60s, he noted.

Jesuit-administered parishes need young priests to attract young Catholics and inspire them to be involved in Jesuits' services. "We want to administer a parish in a good way and also to improve the economic situation of Catholics and non-Catholics," Father Hartoko said.

Jesuit Father Fransiskus Xaverius Mudji Sutrisno said it is not enough for Jesuits to just serve at the altar, it is also necessary to tend to people oppressed by poverty and bureaucracy.

As the nation grapples with economic, political, and power issues, "there is a chance for Jesuits to contribute to the defense of the dignity of human beings made in God's image," the lecturer at Driyarkara School of Philosophy told UCA News after the Mass.

Speaking with UCA News July 30, Indonesian Jesuit Provincial Superior Father Robertus Bellarminus Riyo Mursanto said Jesuits now focus on poverty, because "it creates injustice." Poverty may also hamper people's educational opportunities, which in turn may adversely affect mutual respect, cultural and religious understanding in society, he said.

He noted that Jesuits have worked together with nuns, brothers and lay groups from the wider Church in carrying out their services.

In an earlier July 9 Mass to celebrate the anniversary, Jesuit Superior General Father Adolfo Nicolas said, "God has blessed and assisted Jesuit work in Indonesia" over its 150 years in the country.About 1,000 Religious, seminarians and laypeople as well as several provincial superiors from Asian countries attended the event in the compound of the Jesuit-run Sanata Dharma University in Yogyakarta.

Father Nicolas, a Spanish priest, said that the celebration was aimed at reminding the society's members of how they should love people as they love God. He said Jesuits must stand upon the principles of protecting and caring for the poor "as mandated by Christ himself."

"It is our task to bring them to God since in God there is hope," he stressed. "Let us base our works on God's power and spirit. His spirit will enable us to lead people to the Gospel."
Courtesy : UCAN