Holy Week, Indonesian priests celebrate Chrism Mass

by Mathias Hariyadi

Spiritual retreats are organised in preparation for the renewal of priestly promises. For Indonesia’s Catholics, seeing so many religious is a source of joy and curiosity. Catholics in Semarang, Malang and Bogor show enthusiasm.

Jakarta (AsiaNews) – In what is becoming an annual tradition, priests gather during Holy Week across Indonesia for a two-day retreat with their bishop to prepare the renewal of their priestly vows during Mass Chrism.

In Jakarta, the ceremony falls on Holy Thursday. Other dioceses have already performed the solemn event in the past few days.

This morning, in the capital hundreds of priests and religious attended the Mass in the cathedral celebrated by Archbishop Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo.

In Semarang, more than 330 priests attended the Chrism Mass in the local cathedral on Tuesday, with great participation of the local community.

For Catholics in Indonesia, seeing so many religious together is always a source of joy and curiosity.

Fr Sukendar Wignyomartaya told AsiaNews that in anticipation of the service, the archdiocese’s priests took part in a retreat whose central theme was the apostolic exhortation Amoris laetitia.

"Spreading the Word of God in the contemporary social context" was the topic religious discussed in the diocese of Malang during their retreat, which also saw the presence of Mgr Henricus Pidyarto Gunawan.

In a brief statement to AsiaNews, the bishop expressed his joy for the enthusiasm with which priests and faithful attend the Chrism Mass in every diocese.

The diocese of Bogor, in West Java province, also organised two days of recollection. “The main theme of our retreat was the fidelity of us priests to Jesus, the Church and humanity,” Fr August Surianto Himawan told AsiaNews.