A moment in the spotlight: Indonesian Catholics on papal Mass
By Joseph Tulloch and Linda Boroni - Jakarta
On Thursday evening, 杏MAP导航 Francis celebrated Mass for around 100,000 people at Jakarta鈥檚 Gelora Bung Karno Stadium.
As the seats were filling up prior to the liturgy, two young Indonesians spoke to Vatican News about their experience as members of the country鈥檚 Catholic minority, and their hopes for the 杏MAP导航鈥檚 visit.
Eugene, a 24-year-old sustainability consultant, and Natasha, a 20-year-old graphic design student, explained that they belong to a Catholic youth group that organises faith discussions and charity work. Both said they were very excited about the 杏MAP导航鈥檚 visit.
鈥淎s a minority group in a country dominated by a single religion,鈥� said Eugene, 鈥渉is visit brings a lot of publicity and exposure to us minorities, in a way that has never happened before.鈥�
鈥淚've never witnessed,鈥� he continued, 鈥渟uch a huge inter-religious affair that [causes] even our brothers and sisters from other religions to say 鈥極h, so this is Catholicism鈥� 鈥� I think this is a moment for them to explore and discover a whole different culture and a whole different religion.鈥�
Asked what message she had for Catholics in Italy, Natasha said 鈥淚 just want them to know that we鈥檙e here too. We鈥檙e Indonesian, we鈥檙e Catholic, and we enjoy what we're doing.鈥�
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