At the Regional House on March 31, 2023, Sister Solange and Sister Maria Luisa were welcomed for the second part of the visit of communities in South Asia.
In this fascinating mosaic of islands-more than 17,000! – the first five Sisters arrived in 1980 after a grueling journey. In Temanang, a small and remote village, they accepted, the appeal of the Bishop of Sintang, who called for a pastoral investment in women, to support and enhance, women in society and pastoral care. In time, they opened a kindergarten and a high school.
Significant is their contribution in creation care, through an extensive rubber plantation cultivation and vast plots of vegetable gardens and fruit crops. A choice dictated by a desire to defend the land from extensive palm plantations that destroy forests and impoverish the soil.
In Sintang, the sisters have also opened a home for teenage girls who need to study but cannot afford to travel, every day, long distances.
In four other dioceses, sisters and religious are engaged on several fronts, teaching, training catechists and visiting the sick and elderly, faithful to the style of the Indonesian Catholic and Protestant church, which is very close to the people.
Indonesia is a vast and heterogeneous country, consisting of remote islands, exotic cultures, teeming cities, idyllic beaches, fascinating animals and an extraordinary artistic heritage. For centuries it has attracted merchants, colonizers, missionaries, adventurers, travelers and tourists.
The national slogan is “Unity in Diversity“, an attitude ingrained among Indonesians who belong to different ethnic and social groups and revealed in their hospitable attitude and curiosity about diversity.
