Missione Salute n. 2/2017

It seems incredible…for the Western world but the need to create new spaces for young men has led the Camillians of Indonesia to promote the initiative of a theologate in Maumere on the Island of Flores. Indonesia was the tenth Asian country that the Sons of St. Camillus came to and settled in: China, Taiwan, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, India, South Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan and Indonesia.

The story of the Camillians in Indonesia began in the year 2009 when the first three religious, after arriving from the Philippines, settled in a little rented house in Maumere. This later became a seminary.

After only two years of presence, good opportunities at the level of vocations and a desire for growth led to the appearance on the Island of Flores of the St. Camillus Formation Centre, an institution capable of hosting about fifty young men. This centre is near to the ‘School of Philosophy and Theology’ of the Verbite missionaries which at the present time has about 900 students and is therefore the largest Catholic seminary in Africa. This is a record which aroused the curiosity of Pope John Paul II himself who in 1989 wanted to pay a visit to it.

Social Activities

In 2015 a second seminary was opened in Ruteng, a small town in the north of the same island, for other young men interested in the charism of St. Camillus and for the future missionary life of the Order. On 14 July 2016, finally, a novitiate was officially opened next to the St. Camillus Formation Centre of Nita with the idea of being able to accommodate every year a regular number of candidates for the novitiate and religious life. Because of this encouraging growth, there was a perception of an urgent need (which was greater than ever before) to have new spaces for students of theology. The Superiors are rightly supporting this initiative with concrete action…the new theologate will have about twenty rooms and various communal areas, such as a library, a refectory, a room for washing clothes, a chapel, etc.

In addition to the promotion of vocations and the formation of young men, the Camillians of Indonesia have also stood out at the level of pastoral and social initiatives. A nutritional centre in the village of Gere, for a hundred children to whom powdered milk and suitable food for their growth is regularly distributed, is an example of this. It is a fine thing to observe that after only a few months of such support the faces of these children have more smiles and display greater happiness.

Also active is a distance support programme for 150 pupils of an elementary school. Over the whole of the year, books, exercise books, pens, etc., are distributed, as well as school uniforms, umbrellas and shoes.

Pastoral Initiatives

In the field of pastoral care, the chaplaincy of the town hospital and the direction of the ‘malaria programme’ in the diocese of Maumere have been entrusted to the Camillians. In addition to this, our students visit sick people and disabled people in the nearby parishes.

The ‘parish’ activity of our seminarians in mountain villages is also strong and keenly engaged in. There the greatest wealth that they encounter is poverty. Some of these villages can only be reached on foot and a priest can only go there a few times a year to perform religious services.

The young mission of Indonesia looks to the future with enthusiasm and it has various dreams on the drawing board…amongst these, currently being created, is the St. Camillus Social Centre for young people from the outskirts of Maumere. This will be able to accommodate a hundred students from the remotest areas of the island who are looking for reliable lodgings. This centre will also have a clinic and will offer students courses on computers, on the English language, and on professional training.

These ‘little miracles’, which have been performed over a few years, have been made possible thanks to the solidarity of generous benefactors to whom goes an infinite expression of thanks…

‘Everything is possible for those who believe’. It is from these words of Mark the Evangelist that the Camillians of Indonesia have drawn courage and determination in training new workers of the Gospel, ready to sow – following the example of St. Camillus – hope and loving mercy in many other of the 17,000 islands that make up the great archipelago of Indonesia as well.

Luigi Galvani

PHOTOGALLERY