Jakarta (AsiaNews/UCAN) Photography can spread the Church's social gospel, which is why Fr Josephus Adi Wardaya, general secretary of the Indonesian bishops' Commission for Youth, on July 3 inaugurated a photography competition at the Christ the King Church in Karawang's, a town 45 km south-east of Indonesia's capital of Jakarta.
"By participating in the competition, young people can do something to help create an alternative culture that can counter the deterioration of public civility," he said.
Titled Young People Pioneer the New Habitus of the Nation, the competition is scheduled to last till September 1 as part of the 2005 'National Youth Year' proclaimed by Indonesia's Catholic bishops.
The event is part of the Bishops' Conference's campaign to promote a "counterculture" to combat corruption, violence and environmental degradation which they believe is rampant in Indonesian society.
The first-place winner will receive 5 million rupiahs (US$ 515) and a trophy, whilst the winning photos, to be announced on October 1, will run on Catholic print media and appear on the Bishops' Conference own website
The photos will also be displayed at the National Meeting of Catholic Young People from November 12 to the 16 in Jakarta.
Delegates from all 36 of the country dioceses will then go on to attend the Indonesian Catholic Church's Grand Synod 2005, scheduled for November 16-20.
Father Wardaya said the photo exhibition would show Church leaders what youth are capable of ahead of the synod.
Andreas Darwis Triadi, a photographer who runs a well-known school of photography, said that "[p]hotography serves as an instrument of honest dialogue, because the product of photography is based on honesty. Through the competition the Church may collect the inspiration of the young people."
The contest has been advertised through Catholic media, and posters about the competition have been delivered to all parishes nationwide.
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