BANDUNG, Indonesia (UCAN) -- Bandung diocese sees lay involvement as so vital for the development of parishes that it offers a training course to foster lay leadership in Basic Ecclesial Communities (BECs).

The annual pastoral training course, started 11 years ago, focuses on developing parishioners' leadership skills and their sense of mission to become "salt and light" in a predominantly Muslim society.

"The aim of this year's training course is to give participants sufficient knowledge and skill to lead and develop Catholic communities based on neighborhoods or interest groups," according to Yulianus Ruchyat, secretary of the diocesan Pastoral Work Council. Next year, he continued, the emphasis will be on training people interested in evangelization work.

Sessions are held every Wednesday evening, from 5 to 8:30 p.m., at the diocese's pastoral building in Bandung, capital of West Java province, 130 kilometers southeast of Jakarta. About 40 parishioners are attending this year's course, which began on May 30 and is scheduled to end on Dec. 9.

Ruchyat said the training course is the only one of its kind in the country and has graduated 700 laypeople. "We are proud to hear the graduates are active in their respective parishes," he told UCA News May 30.

However, only 12 of the diocese's 23 parishes have sent people for the course during the 11 years it has been offered.

Participants learn about ecclesiology, liturgy, catechesis, Church moral and social teachings, and pastoral care, especially for the family and young people. They also explore concepts such as koinonia, or Christian fellowship, diakonia, or service to suffering and poor people, and Catholic community development, particularly through BECs.

Teams from the diocesan commissions for liturgy, Bible apostolate, catechetics, socioeconomic development and Catholic community development lead training sessions. Typically, a team leads group discussion during the first hour, Ruchyat explained. Participants then study materials given to them, before discussing theoretical points and practical implications.

Elisabet, 42, spoke with UCA News at the May 30 session. "I like this training. There are many things I get from it, and I want to give something back to others in my neighborhood," she said. The laywoman is active in faith formation of children at St. Martinus Church in Margahayu.

Maria Sindhu, from Holy Cross Church in Kemuning, was back after attending the 2003 course. "I benefit a lot from it," said Sindhu, 60, who comes from a Muslim family. "I will try to attend the training every year, if there is no hindrance. I want to know more about Catholic Church, because it is very important to me."

Ruchyat said each participant who completes the course receives a certificate.

Data currently available puts the number of Catholics in Bandung diocese at 99,977. They make up 0.25 percent of 39,139,400 people living in its territory. The diocese has 82 priests.

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