Indonesia: Building a village chapel on the island of Flores
Indonesia is truly an island nation, with over 17,000 separate islands, around 6000 of which are inhabited. Geographically, most of them belong to Asia, while some are included in the Australian continent. With a population of over 272 million, Indonesia is the most populous Muslim nation in the world. However, the religious makeup of the country varies from place to place, with the island of Flores, for example, having a Catholic majority.
It is here on the island of Flores that the parish of Beteng Jawa is situated, in an extensive rural area. The inhabitants are indigenous people who live mainly by subsistence agriculture. But they are poor and struggle to provide for their families.
Within the parish is the outstation of Golo Popa, with a population of over 1700 Catholics. They have no chapel, and so they gather in the school on Sundays for Holy Mass. Despite this makeshift arrangement, many people still come. But on weekdays, when the school is being used for teaching, there is nowhere for the community to gather for prayer, for Holy Mass or for baptisms, weddings and other communal celebrations.
The celebration of Holy Mass as it is now, prior to the completed construction of the chapel.
Father Ferdinandus Tahul, the parish priest, explains: „The people live their Catholic lives with great joy and have a very lively faith. The faithful in Golo Popa have for years now been gathering building materials and raising money for a chapel of their own. But they are poor and so they need the generous support of ACN in order to fulfil their dream.“ Not only is this chapel very important for the religious life of the people, he adds, but it would also stand as a vital and visible sign of the presence of the Church.
We have no intention of letting down the faithful in Golo Popa, and so we have already promised them €28,000. Will you help financially support our promise? This frees us up to help even more projects, as requests for help continue to come in and to increase.