Jakarta (AsiaNews) – May the Year of Mercy "be a time when all Catholic congregations reconcile with their brothers after the regional elections," said Fr Miau on 13 December, at the opening of the Jubilee in Sintang, West Kalimantan province (Borneo).
"This act of reconciliation is important for the Diocese of Sintang, which includes two districts with a Christian majority that must elect the local district chief,” the priest said.
Regional elections were held in West Kalimantan province on 9 December. The event proved divisive for the local Catholic community at a time when the diocese is without a bishop.
For this reason, Fr Miau, vicar general of the diocese, called on the faithful to be united and put aside political divisions.
"Let us forget the past,” he said. “Let the spirit of reconciliation be our spiritual repentance during the year of Mercy".
The priest opened the Holy Door in front of 3,000 people in St Fidelis Parish, the oldest in the West Kalimantan.
Fr Paskalis Nores, pastor at St Fidelis, noted that seven districts in West Kalimantan participated in elections. Two of them come under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Sintang.
Founded in 1890, the church was the first point of propagation of Catholicism in Kalimantan, the priest said.
Mgr Agustinus Agus, the former Bishop of Sintang, now Archbishop of Pontianak, declared St Fidelis as a Jubilee church in the diocese.