West Timor, President Widodo celebrates Christmas with Catholics
Jakarta (AsiaNews) - "Christmas is not just a ritual celebration, but much more than this common perception. Christmas should be a time of radical change. It is a time to announce the new spirit of the nation”, said the Indonesian president Joko Widodo during the national celebrations of Christmas, which were held on December 28 in Kupang (West Timor), capital of the eastern province of East Nusa Tenggara.
In a decisive split from the customs of his predecessor Yudhoyono, Widodo chose not to celebrate Christmas in Jakarta, causing quite a sensation in choosing to spend Christmas in a peripheral area that is home to the majority of the Catholic population of the country.
"Christmas - said the president - is the right time to change our character and our behavior, leaving behind the hypocrisy, wrong attitudes and selfishness robs us of our care for neighbor."
Addressing the politicians present, Widodo recalled the words of Pope Francis that Christmas is not a "soap opera" but the right time to start to improve the conditions of all citizens: "We have to work harder - he warned - to make our nation rich, prosperous and peaceful, and make people happier than ever. "
During his speech, Widodo also made reference to the archbishop and the Indonesian national hero Msgr. Albertus Soegijapranata SJ (1896-1963). The first native indigenous to be ordained a bishop, as an archbishop he defended the local Church from the invasion of the Japanese military during the Second World War. The President recalled the motto of the Archbishop: "100% Catholic and 100% Indonesian".
The decision to celebrate Christmas in Kupang, said Widodo, is also a demonstration of how the government wants to invest in the province of East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), one of the poorest in the country: "This is my third time in NTT, while have been less in other provinces I. This echoes Jakarta’s commitment to develop NTT more than in the past. "
The island of Timor, like Flores (both in NTT), has no running water. The first step, announced Widodo, is to provide clean water to all: "Once we have enough water, then we can talk about what lies ahead: cultivating the land". The government has planned the construction of two large dams in Timor, the Raknamo in Kupang district and Rotiklot in Belu.
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