Thousands of Catholics celebrate the 80th anniversary of the mission in Jambi
Inspired by the theme of ‘light and salt of the earth’, Catholics celebrated the foundation of St Theresia’s Parish. The first baptism dates back to 1932. Three years later the first priest arrived, and another 30 baptisms. The mission remains actively involved in education and health care.
Jakarta (AsiaNews) – Thousands of Catholics recently celebrated the 80th anniversary of the Catholic mission in Jambi, a province located on the predominantly Muslim island of Sumatra, inspired by theme of ‘salt and light of the earth’.
Dutch missionaries of the Sacred Heart planted the first seeds of Christianity in the area in 1925. The first baptism took place in 1932 and, three years later, Fr Van Oort SJ became the first residential priest, assisted by Brother Felix van Langenberg.
On that same year, the Saint Theresia Parish was founded under the impetus of Mgr Henricus Norb Mekkeholt. Within a few years, 30 local ethnic Chinese were baptised.
Since then, the mission has gone beyond evangelisation, working hard in education by promoting the so-called Hollandsche Chineesche School and the Froebel School for ethnic Chinese.
When Fr Hoogeboom invited the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of Mary to help the mission, the latter responded immediately, especially in the health care field.
According to Fr Felix Astono Atmaja, vicar general of the diocese of Palembang, Catholics excel in the education and health care fields. In the past, this has led to the opening of Jambi’s first Catholic school dedicated to St Francis Xavier and the first Catholic hospital, named after Saint Theresia.
Some 30 priests came for the anniversary celebrations, including some from Jambi itself and others who used to work in the province. "Six priests, four nuns and some seminarians come from Jambi,” Fr Atmaja told AsiaNews. however, Bishop Aloysius Sudarso was unable to attend for health reasons.
Jambi province is predominantly Muslim and ethnically Malay, with a large community of ethnic Chinese Christians who fall under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Palembang (South Sumatra province).
Catholics number 12,000, mostly ethnic Chinese but also migrants from North Sumatra, Java, Flores and East Nusa Tenggara. The local Catholic Church is present in cities but also in province’s remoter plantation areas.
Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation. Christians represent 5.7 per cent of the population with Catholics just over 3.6 per cent. The latter are an active part of society.
Over the years, they have contributed to the nation's development and played a major role in emergency operations, as was the case during the devastating floods of January 2013.
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