By INA SocCom

Jakarta, Indonesia 19 August 2024 -- The Catholic Church in Indonesia is one of the Missionary Churches. Over a long period of time, the missionaries of the various Orders of Consecrated Life laid a strong foundation for the growth of the Catholic faith in this country. The Salesians of Don Bosco have also contributed to the growth of the Catholic faith in the country, especially for the poor youth of the country since September 1995. Fr. Jose Carbonell was the first Salesian missionary to lay the Salesian foundation in Indonesia. The other Salesian missionaries in Indonesia were Fr. Andres Calleja, Fr. Andrew Wong, Fr. Noel Villafuerte, Fr. Ramoncito Padilla, and Brother Ephrem Santos, who are still Salesians and members of the Vice-province of Indonesia. The example of these missionaries encouraged a very limited number of Salesians in Indonesia to become missionaries. To date, Salesians from Indonesia Vice-Province have sent eight missionaries namely seven priests and one lay brother. This is certainly a sign of gratitude from Salesians in the Vice Province of INA to God through the missionaries who contributed to the Salesian presence in Indonesia.

The Salesians in Indonesia felt refreshed again in their motivation for missionary life by the presence of Fr. Eric Mairura from the Salesian Mission Sector in Rome on 29 July 2024. Fr. Erik visited two Salesian formation houses in INA, namely the Novitiate Community in Tigaraksa Tangerang and the Postnovitiate Community in Sunter. He gave important thoughts encouraging young Salesians to have a missionary heart. At first, he explained the animation task of the Salesian Don Bosco Mission Sector, which includes aspects of the formation of missionaries, animation of missions, and building a sense of solidarity in missionary life. Fr. Eric also talked about the Salesian missionary vocation, missionary calling and spirit, and missionary generosity, which has become an important spirit in our congregation.

Concluding the formation given to the young Salesians in INA, he said that there is a new trend in Mission today. That is, the mission is no longer about geography - moving from developed to underdeveloped countries. Missionaries now come from and go to different continents. All provinces are “senders” and “receivers”. A province made up of members from one culture risks losing sensitivity to challenges and interculturalism and becoming inward-looking.

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