MIL OSI Translation. Region: Italy –
Source: The Holy See in Italian
Indonesian pilgrims in Ambon, under the monument to St. Francis Xavier
by Paolo AffatatoDenpasar (Agenzia Fides) – Visitors and tourists in Bali, the Indonesian island known for its attractions and uninterrupted tourist flows, stop in the Kuta area, a short distance from Denpasar airport, in the Catholic church dedicated to Saint Francis Xavier. On the facade of the church, the statue of Christ and that of the patron saint of missions, evangelizer of Asia, stand out at the top. The community volunteers are very kind and welcoming: they even stop traffic to allow visitors, often foreigners, to enter for mass (which is celebrated in English and the local language, Bahasha) or for prayer. In the church the faithful love to pray with the “Novena of grace to Saint Francis Xavier” used in a special way in March and December. The Sunday liturgy is packed with young people who tell of their admiration and affection towards Saint Francis Xavier. This is also what happens two thousand kilometers away to the East, in the cathedral dedicated to Saint Francis Xavier in the Indonesian city of Ambon, in the Catholic diocese of Amboina, where a monument was also dedicated to the saint, inaugurated in 2014 to commemorate his arrival right on this island. The monument is located in the village of Great Hative, in the bay of Ambon and overlooks the sea, from where the Jesuit missionary arrived and landed on 14 February 1546. We are in the Maluku Islands, known for being the “islands of spices” which attracted over the centuries Portuguese and Dutch settlers eager to start trade with Europe passed. Here Francis Xavier landed, announced Christ and baptized the first local inhabitants on the island of Ternate and Tindore, starting the spread of Christianity in the Moluccas, which will later be part of today’s Indonesia. In the diocese of Amboina there are still traces of Catholic communities which – in a territory with a majority Protestant Christian confession – can be traced back to the impact of the saint’s work: places such as Tual, Tanimbar, Kei, and small islets of the Moluccas inhabiting 99% Catholics. Among the promoters of the initiative to erect a monument, with the local Bishop, was the Association of Indonesian diocesan priests (“Unio Indonesia”) who say they are “devoted to Francis Xavier and look to him as model of the priest and announcer of the Gospel”. Moving to the island of Java, of the archdiocese of Jakarta, the Church of San Fransiskus Xaverius in Tanjung Priok (North Jakarta) built in 1970, a structure that can accommodate 1000 faithful, is important as a of spirituality for many Catholics and is a place for pilgrims who go to entrust their prayer intentions or ask for special graces from the Spanish saint. Religious orders also keep it as a solid point of reference. “We inspire our missionary vocation to our patron and model, Saint Francis Xavier”, say the Xaverian missionaries of Yogyakarta, in Central Java, who have the missionary nature of the Spanish saint in their very name and charisma. Among the numerous examples, the brothers of The Christian education of Ploërmel (FICP) , a male religious institute founded by the French theologian Jean-Marie Robert de La Mennais (1780 – 1860) who are dedicated to the education and Christian education of youth, have created their “ district” (religious province) naming it after Saint Francis Xavier and spreading the figure of the saint in their schools. “So one of the young people who joined the congregation in 2019, making his religious profession on the island of Flores in 2019, chose to call himself Franciscus Xaverius Gua Making,” they recall.The name Fransiskus Xaverius is the baptismal name of many Indonesians and it is also the name of numerous Catholic schools, parishes and institutes. It will then be the name of the new Basilica and the new Jesuit College in Nusantara, the new capital of the Republic of Indonesia (see Fides 29/7/2024). The Indonesian Jesuits strongly refer to the saint, recalling that, after their brother Francis Xavier and inspired by him, “other Spanish and Portuguese Jesuits followed his example and established missionary headquarters in eastern Indonesia until the mid-1600s.” In 1859 – in a second key moment – the Jesuit mission in Indonesia resumed with the arrival of two Dutch priests, Martinus van den Elzen and Joannes Baptista Palinckx. Numerous Jesuit priests and brothers then arrived from the Netherlands and their mission laid the foundations for the current structure of the Catholic Church in Indonesia. The Jesuit presence then had the legal status of “Java Mission” which always, in its existence, has had Francis Xavier as a spiritual reference. The work of the Dutch missionary Fr. was important. Franciscus Georgius Josephus van Lith SJ, who will be recognized by the Indonesian Ministry of Education for his missionary and educational work in Central Java. The Jesuits founded the first Catholic school in Muntilan, welcoming students regardless of their religious, cultural or ethnic background. Here he studied and trained. Albertus Soegijapranata SJ, who later became the first Indonesian Bishop, and is today considered one of Indonesia’s national heroes, remembered in particular by Javanese Catholics for his contribution during the fight for Indonesian independence. Today, there are around 330 Jesuits in Indonesia, engaged in parishes, schools, universities, social centres, publishing houses, magazines, spirituality centres. Thanks to the work of Indonesian priests and consecrated persons, as well as missionaries, Indonesian Catholics feel and define themselves as “children of Saint Francis Xavier”. Devotion to the saint, widespread especially in areas with a Catholic majority, is expressed in a special way for the feast of Saint Francis Xavier, on December 3, when various Catholic communities commemorate him with special masses, processions and prayers. The celebrations often reflect local culture and traditions, integrating elements, customs, music and dance typical of the many different cultures that make up the mosaic of Indonesia. (Agenzia Fides 3/9/2024)
St. Francis Xavier Church in Denpasar (Bali)
Historic photo of the first Javanese Jesuits
The project of the new Basilica dedicated to Francis Xavier in the new Indonesian capital Nusantara
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EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is a translation. Apologies should the grammar and/or sentence structure not be perfect.
