Catechism and communication: a challenge for Java seminarians (Photos and Video)

In Ambarawa, 12 sisters and 50 seminarians take part in a four-day course.  The Episcopal Commission for the seminars involved professionals in the field of writing and video production.  The seven major seminaries of the island serve 17 of the 37 Indonesian dioceses.

Jakarta (AsiaNews) - Promoting education in Catholic doctrine through a language familiar to new generations and ordinary faithful, who increasingly want to deepen their knowledge of faith: this is the theme at the center of a meeting that has called to Ambarawa, in the  Central Java province, 12 sisters and 50 students from the seven major seminaries on the island. 

Sponsored by the Commission for Seminaries (Komisi Seminari) of the Indonesian Bishops' Conference (Kwi), the event took place at the Pangesti Wening Retreat House premises between the first and 4th of July.  The purpose of the initiative was to provide participants with a training program, to improve their ability to produce educational material - both written and video - aimed at explaining some basic precepts on social media platforms.

Fr. Joseph Kristanto Suratman, executive secretary of the Seminar Commission, involved experts and professionals in the field of writing and video production in the program, who were indicated to him by  members of Paguyuban Gembala Utama (Pgu - Good Shepherd Association), a working group that brings together some former Indonesian seminar students, such as the ecclesiastical institutes of Mertoyudan, Garum and Bogor, have thought of it. 

The Pgu contributes to projects for the formation of aspiring priests, to support them in the challenges of modern society.  In the last week of February last, 72 seminarians from the dioceses of Tanjung Selor (capital of the province of North Kalimantan) and Malang (East Java) took part in a course on sex education coordinated by the organization.

Fr. Kristanto Suratman tells AsiaNews that among the participants there were also the rectors of the Anging Mamiri, of the Fermentum and of Saints Peter and Paul.  "The seven major seminaries in Java offer a place to live and study for seminarians from 17 dioceses in the country, which in total are 37". 

The students who took part in the program come from the major seminary of Saint Paul in Kentungan, near Yogyakarta (Central Java), the oldest in the nation;  the interdiocesan one of St. John in Malang (East Java);  the Fermentum of Bandung (West Java);  the major seminary of Saints Peter and Paul, also in Bandung;  the Anging Mamiri of Yogyakarta;  the Povidentia Dei of Surabaya (East Java);  and finally the Saint John Paul II of Jakarta.