Purwokerto (AsiaNews) - In Indonesia the pastoral care of young Catholics is a common and regular practice in Catholic schools, where at least once a month a priest is invited to celebrate the Eucharist. But in state schools this practice is not widespread, since the majority of students and teachers are Muslims.
In the Diocese of Purwokerto (Central Java) the Community of Catholic Students of St. Aloysius Gonzaga has been created, which last week along with Fr Deddy Setiawan Pr organized a Eucharistic celebration in the Cathedral. The community project is to organize a monthly mass in which Catholic students can take part. Three teachers have already given their commitment to participate in this new community. Catholic students present at the function told AsiaNews: "When our companions [Muslims] receive religious instruction from their teachers, we go home early due to the lack of spiritual guides especially for us Catholics."
The commitment to Catholic youth in public schools began with the Jesuits. In 1984, in Jakarta, the order founded the Association of Catholic high school students (Persink - Persatuan Siswati Siswati-Katolik), and organized religious services every weekend in the parish churches and chapels. Purwokerto A similar initiative had already been attempted in 1989, when, the Association of the brotherhood of Catholic Students (Pradas-k) was founded.
Bishop Julianus Sunarko SJ, Bishop of Purwokerto, said he was excited about this initiative: "I strongly support Fr. Setiawan’s idea and I hope that this project can be extended to other cities of the diocese".