Catholics celebrated new Church of St-Laurentius in Jakarta
by Mathias Hariyadi
The opening ceremony is set for 15 January. The place of worship should accommodate up to 2,000 worshippers. Some 10,000 people have already signed up with the parish. Building began in 2004. On Tuesday, Christians and Muslims took part in a joint celebration.
Jakarta (AsiaNews) – The Archdiocese of Jakarta is getting ready to celebrate the birth of a new parish church. The official opening of St-Laurentius Parish Church is set for mid-January. For Indonesian Catholics, it is a reason to celebrate and confirmation that at least in the capital, a certain level of peace and inter-confessional harmony has been achieved. The same cannot be said for other parts of the archipelago, especially in Bogor Regency (Wes Java Province), where Muslim extremists are still carrying out attacks against Christians.
A couple of young newly-weds from the area where the parish church is located said they were “happy and grateful” for this New Year gift. “The new church can hold up to 2,000 worshippers,” Hartono and wife Tri Sulainita told AsiaNews. “More than 10,000 people have already registered with the new parish”. They join the 22,860 members of the nearby Parish Church of Santa Monika, six kilometres away.”
St-Laurentius Parish Church (pictured) is located in the Alam Sutera area of Serpong, South Tangerang Regency, Banten Province. The area is some 25 kilometres from central Jakarta. The new parish church falls under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Jakarta.
The initial project dates back to 2004 and is the work of Fr Widyosuhardjo OSC, who had pushed for a new place of worship. Achieving the goal took seven years. After obtaining a building permit (Izin Mendirikan Bangunan in Indonesian), he had to raise the money and get people to build the church.
Initially, the St-Laurentius Parish Church was supposed to be “a small place of worship” tied to Santa Monika Parish Church in Serpong. Set up 15 years ago, the latter has attracted worshippers from a number of areas. This has required new church buildings because of the large number of participants in Sunday functions as well as those during the week and on main holidays.
In the past few years, the Parishes of St-Odilia and St-Helena were established in Karawaci. Now the Parish of Saint-Laurentius will be the third in the area. It, too, is expected to fill to capacity.
On Tuesday, a celebration was held also in Alam Sutera, involving Christian leaders and Muslims from South Tangerang and Banten. The Archbishop of Jakarta, Mgr Ignatius Suharyo, and the Bishop of Bogor, Michael Angkur, together with 13 priests from various parishes, celebrated Mass, prayed for peace and promoted inter-faith dialogue.
A couple of young newly-weds from the area where the parish church is located said they were “happy and grateful” for this New Year gift. “The new church can hold up to 2,000 worshippers,” Hartono and wife Tri Sulainita told AsiaNews. “More than 10,000 people have already registered with the new parish”. They join the 22,860 members of the nearby Parish Church of Santa Monika, six kilometres away.”
St-Laurentius Parish Church (pictured) is located in the Alam Sutera area of Serpong, South Tangerang Regency, Banten Province. The area is some 25 kilometres from central Jakarta. The new parish church falls under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Jakarta.
The initial project dates back to 2004 and is the work of Fr Widyosuhardjo OSC, who had pushed for a new place of worship. Achieving the goal took seven years. After obtaining a building permit (Izin Mendirikan Bangunan in Indonesian), he had to raise the money and get people to build the church.
Initially, the St-Laurentius Parish Church was supposed to be “a small place of worship” tied to Santa Monika Parish Church in Serpong. Set up 15 years ago, the latter has attracted worshippers from a number of areas. This has required new church buildings because of the large number of participants in Sunday functions as well as those during the week and on main holidays.
In the past few years, the Parishes of St-Odilia and St-Helena were established in Karawaci. Now the Parish of Saint-Laurentius will be the third in the area. It, too, is expected to fill to capacity.
On Tuesday, a celebration was held also in Alam Sutera, involving Christian leaders and Muslims from South Tangerang and Banten. The Archbishop of Jakarta, Mgr Ignatius Suharyo, and the Bishop of Bogor, Michael Angkur, together with 13 priests from various parishes, celebrated Mass, prayed for peace and promoted inter-faith dialogue.
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