JAKARTA: 8 March 2011 – The Don Bosco Relic has
arrived in Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital city and will remain
in Indonesia until 12 March. Apart from a visit to the
Postnovitiate, much of the time the Relic will remain at the
the Don Bosco Parish in the city. At the Postnovitiate,
there wsa an official welcome by the representative of the
Apostolic Nuncio following the arrival at the airport.
Indonesia is a predominantly Muslim
country; by demographics alone, the largest in the world,
with 15.6% of the Muslim population of the world. Many of
the Jakarta parishioners holding high positions in
government and society came to the help of the Salesians so
that everything may run smoothly, part of a process to help
'conscientize' people in preparation for the visit. However,
for many years before the Salesians came to Indonesia,
people had already known the name Don Bosco. With some
six and a half million Catholics in Indonesia, and a
significant Catholic educational presence, Catholicism is
one of the six official religions of the country. Dutch
missionaries named several of their schools and orphanages
after Don Bosco and considered him the patron saint of their
eductional work for the young long before he was canonized.
The awareness-raising program had its
interesting moments. Two examples: .... Fr. Andy was
explaining what “relics” are to a group of young people in
one of the schools in Jakarta, when suddenly one of them
blurted out, “So, Father, does this mean the Catholic Church
allows mutilation of saints' bodies?” And then, two Muslim
boys were resting after playing basketball in the
postnovitiate court. They saw the poster announcing the
relic's coming, and asked Father Chito why this particular
visit to Jakarta. Father said, “because Don Bosco wants to
see you!” And they said with a smile, “If that is the case,
we want to see him too!” (Fr. Chito had little chance to
extend his explanation because the boys' father came to
fetch them with his motorcycle.)
Many people in Indonesia have a great
love for Don Bosco and have been waiting for him. Please
join us in praying that this visit my be a source of great
blessings for the Church here, the Salesians, the Salesian
Family, the great Indonesian nation and its young people. _________________
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