(ANS – Rome – June 8) – On June 8 the Salesian general council approved the erection of the
new vice province of Indonesia under the patronage of St. Louis Versiglia. It
was assigned the abbreviation INA.
The long-awaited recognition brings to 12 the number of provinces (8) and vice provinces (4) in the East Asia-Oceania Region. With INA, the total number of the SDB circumscriptions is 88.
In June 2017 the Rector Major and his council
approved the timeline for the erection of the INA vice province: report of the INA
delegate about the state of the delegation (a semi-autonomous region within a
province); canonical visit from the provincial of the mother (vice)province, Indonesia-East
Timor Vice Province (ITM); opinion and vote by the councils of both ITM vice province
and INA delegation; a consultation promoted by the Rector Major for all
confreres of the ITM vice province (April-May 2018); and finally the approval
for the erection of the new vice province by the Rector Major and his council
(Const. 156), given on June 8.
The Salesian presence in Indonesia started in 1985
(under what was then the single Philippines Province), and the delegation of Indonesia
was canonically established in 2010. eventually being erected into a vice province.
The need for the growth from the delegation toward
the vice province was discussed and grew mature at various occasions. The first
delegation assembly of Indonesia in 2012 produced a “road map” (2012-2018) with
a clear goal of preparing the necessary animation environment and structures
during those 6 years. Indeed, that dream has now been accomplished!
According the report of the 2018 extraordinary
visitation (February-March 2018), there are in INA 7 Salesian communities with
61 SDBs (30 priests, 10 coadjutor brothers, and 20 seminarian brothers). This
year there are 12 novices and 8 prenovices. Another 6 Indonesian Salesians are serving
as foreign missionaries in Europe, Latin America, and East Asia. At present
only 5 of the confreres working in Indonesia come from other countries – 2 from
East Timor and 3 from the Philippines. Fr. Andrew Wong was recently assigned to
INA by the Rector Major upon his request for a missionary assignment (from
being superior of the Ratisbonne theological community in Jerusalem).
The recent consultation of the ITM confreres for
the establishment of the INA vice province brought rich reflection for the
leadership of Indonesia – not only about the strong and weak points of the
Salesian charism in Indonesia, but also about many items that might be included
in the mutual agreement between the Indonesia and East Timor vice provinces in
the future.
There are still a few more steps before the
Indonesia Vice Province becomes a reality. On June 20-21 the consultation for
the first superior of the new vice province will be held. After his appointment
during the summer session of the general council (which just opened), his installation
will follow, scheduled for August 1 in Jakarta.
After the establishment of the Indonesia Vice Province,
the East Timor Vice Province will figure under the abbreviation TLS. ITM will
not be used anymore.
Source: AustraLasia
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