The Jesuits are celebrating their 150 years of service in Indonesia on 19 – 20 July at Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta. The Jesuit modern mission there (long after St Francis Xavier served in Celebes and Mollucas in 16th century) began on 9 July 1859 when Frs Martin van den Elzen and John Baptist Pallinckx (NER) arrived in Batavia (Jakarta). After rendering service in all big islands in 19-20th centuries, 348 Jesuits now carry out their educational, intellectual, pastoral, spiritual, social, and social communication apostolates in eight (arch)dioceses in Sumatra, Java, and Papua islands. The province sends her twenty-one members as missionaries in Rome, Turkey, Pakistan, Srilanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Japan, Micronesia, and East Timor. The thanksgiving celebration is graced by the presence of Fr General Adolfo Nicolás and East Asia and Oceania Major Superiors as well as Jesuits’ friends and collaborators. (Contributor: Fr Priyono Marwan)
