Indonesian Catholics begin Holy Week with Chrism Mass
Jakarta (AsiaNews) - According to a well-established tradition, Indonesian Catholics celebrated the Chrism Mass, yesterday afternoon or this morning, depending on the diocese, marking the beginning of Holy Week.
During the service, the bishop blesses the special oils priests use during the year to give the sacraments like baptism, confirmation, ordination and anointing of the sick.
For the faithful, this moment has special resonance for they can see "all the priests working in the diocese" assembled in one place to renew their pledge of "obedience" to their bishop and "loyalty" to the universal Church.
The tradition of 'Misa Krisma' (Chrism Mass in the local language) arrived in Java with the late Archbishop of Jakarta, Mgr Leo Soekoto SJ. From here, it was brought to other parts of the archipelago. For more than 30 years, it was celebrated in the Archdiocese of Jakarta, but is now held in the Archdiocese of Semarang and the Diocese of Purwokerto, central Java.
A few days ago, Mgr Johannes Pujasumarta and Mgr Julianus Sunarka SJ, respectively the bishops of Semarang and Purwokerto, stressed the deep meaning of the Chrism Mass, which bears 'witness' to the world of the role priests play in the Church, as main players in proclaiming the Gospel. In their address, the two prelates called on all priests to join the special Triduum to prepare for Easter, focusing on the topic of catechesis and evangelisation.
In the presence of more than a hundred priests, the aforementioned special Triduum was held in Muntilan (central Java), a historic place for Indonesian Catholicism. It is in fact here that Dutch missionary Fr Van Lith (1863-1926) planted the first seed of the faith, handing the propagation of the faith and the work of evangelisation over to the natives.
Easter is also, according to tradition, a time for conversions and baptisms. In Saint Mary Parish, Tangerang Regency, Diocese of Purwokerto, more than 50 people will be baptised, mostly Buddhists and students with a Chinese ethnic background.
If in the past, most baptisms involved the newly born, last year most of the baptised were adults.
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