The Vatican announced last night that Pope Francis had accepted the renunciation of the appointment as cardinal of Msgr Paskalis Bruno Syukur, bishop of Bogor. The announcement was greeted with great astonishment in Indonesia. Syukur was one of the 21 new cardinals who were announced on 6 October last and who will be created in Read more
Posts Tagged ‘Indonesia’
Catholic Church still too Eurocentric, Pope urges shift
Monday, September 23rd, 2024
Pope Francis has stated that the Catholic Church remains “still too Eurocentric” and urges a broader focus on regions like Southeast Asia and Oceania. Speaking at St Peter’s Square on 18 September, the Pope said the Church is “more alive” in areas like Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore. The pontiff emphasised the Read more
Papuans cry out to Pope Francis for help
Monday, September 9th, 2024
“Papua has been living a nightmare of unimaginable violence for over half a century. “No one cares about the tragic fate of the Papuan minority, who suffer from the injustices of the ruling powers and the Indonesian military, who accuse them of being separatists,” said Father Alexandro Rangga. Speaking by phone from Jakarta, the 37-year-old Read more
Proclaiming the Gospel is not about imposing one’s own faith
Monday, September 9th, 2024
Pope Francis told gatherings of clergy, religious sisters, and catechists in Indonesia and PNG that proclaiming the Gospel does not mean “imposing one’s own faith or opposing it to others, proselytising”. He said proclaiming the Gospel should “always be done with great respect and fraternal affection for all”. Fraternal living means “accepting one another and Read more
Pope Francis’ Indonesia visit strengthens interfaith ties
Thursday, September 5th, 2024
Pope Francis’s visit to Indonesia is being hailed as a key moment for interfaith relations. He will engage with leaders from different religious communities in the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation. The pontiff arrived in Jakarta on 3 September, marking the start of his 12-day trip across Asia and Oceania. On 5 September, Pope Francis is Read more
Four arrested for attack on Catholic students praying rosary
Thursday, May 9th, 2024
Police in Indonesia have arrested four men for attacking Catholic students praying the rosary. The alleged Muslim attackers and others mobbed 12 students while they were conducting a traditional house-to-house rosary service on 5 May. For many Indonesian Catholics the month of May is special, a time to visit Marian grottos and shrines to pay Read more
Indonesia’s top court issues circular against interfaith marriage
Monday, July 24th, 2023The top court in Indonesia has come out with a circular requesting courts not to grant a nod to interfaith marriages contradictory to its 1986 ruling, which makes interfaith marriages legal in the Muslim-majority Southeast Asian nation. In the July 17 circular, Muhammad Syarifuddin, chairman of the Supreme Court, emphasised the need to establish guidelines Read more
Indonesian seminarians become journalists
Monday, June 13th, 2022
Indonesian seminarians are being provided with an additional set of skills – and not ones you’d necessarily expect. A Catholic group in Indonesia’s conflict-torn Papua province is teaching the seminarians to report on events in remote areas where there is limited access for journalists. Rights activists often criticise Indonesia’s mainstream media for reporting news based Read more
Catholic catechist shot dead in Papua
Monday, November 2nd, 2020A Catholic official in Papua has condemned the killing of Rufinus Tigau, a catechist whom Indonesian security forces accused of being a separatist. “We are very concerned with this incident which targeted church servants,” Father Marthen Kuayo, apostolic administrator of Timika Diocese, told UCA News on Oct. 28. Tigau, 28, was reportedly killed on Oct. Read more
Indonesian archbishop joins mosque groundbreaking ceremony
Thursday, August 27th, 2020A Catholic archbishop has taken part in a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a Muslim mosque in Indonesia’s West Kalimantan province, calling it “a ‘groundbreaking’ symbol of interreligious harmony.” Archbishop Agustinus Agus of Pontianak was among five local officials and religious leaders to attend the event on Aug. 21 in Landak district. West Kalimantan Read more