BANDUNG, Indonesia (UCAN) -- The sounds of traditional Sundanese musical instruments filled the hall of Catholic-run Parahyangan University in Bandung recently as local Catholics welcomed their new bishop.

West Java provincial secretary Lek Laksamana (left) with newly ordained Bishop Johannes Pujasumarta of Bandung (second left) on July 17 in Bandung, Indonesia.

On July 17, the day after Bishop Johannes Pujasumarta was ordained and installed as bishop of Bandung, Catholics introduced him to local government, social and religious leaders, and the unique local culture.

About 200 people, mostly Catholics, attended the event, which featured the playing of the angklung, a bamboo musical instrument, and gamelan degung, a traditional orchestra of mostly percussion instruments.

Bandung, 120 kilometers southeast of Jakarta, is the capital of West Java province, where the Sundanese, the second-largest ethnic group in Indonesia after the Javanese, form 74 percent of the 35.7 million population. Almost all Sundanese are Muslims. The new bishop is a Javanese from Central Java.

In his address, Bishop Pujasumarta said Catholics, "as an integral part of West Java society, will participate in building a "self-reliant, dynamic and prosperous society," a mission promoted by the West Java governor.

Provincial secretary Lek Laksamana, representing the governor, welcomed the prelate and expressed thanks to Pope Benedict XVI for the appointment, which ended local Catholics' two-and-a-half year wait for a new bishop.

He asked the bishop and Catholics to join with other people in "creating a harmonious, tolerant and peaceful life in the province."

Speaking with UCA News during the event, Yulianus Ruchiyat, secretary of the diocesan pastoral council, said the local Church is actively engaged with Sundanese people.

"Church-run social services are not just for Catholics," he elaborated. "The diocesan socioeconomic commission runs a cooperative for all members of society. It provides training on farming, livestock breeding and working capital for all who need help."
  Some Muslims fear the Church has a hidden agenda of proselytism behind its social work, Ruchiyat acknowledged. But he insisted it "offers help without the intention to catholicize the Sundanese." In order to avoid such accusations, he added, the Church works together with Sundanese Muslims to run health centers.

Crosier Father Markus Priyo Kushardjono, who administered the diocese while it had no bishop, told UCA News he hoped people would not misinterpret Bishop Pujasumarta's remarks in his first pastoral letter urging Catholics to "sow good seed" in Tatar Sunda (Sundanese land).

The pastoral letter, Sowing Good Seed (Matthew 13:24), was read out at July 19 and 20 Masses in all 23 parishes of the diocese. In it, the bishop said Pope Benedict XVI has given him the task to carry on the work started by the first missioners and continued by local Catholics.

The bishop is not encouraging Catholics to proselytize Sundanese people, Father Kushardjono said. "We welcome Sundanese to be Catholics, but we have no program to catholicize them. Our call is to bring people to salvation, to be the salt of the earth."

West Java provincial secretary Lek Laksamana raises a photo of the coat-of-arms of newly ordained Bishop Johannes Pujasumarta of Bandung (center) as Father Markus Priyo Kushardjono looks on.

H.R. Maulani, head of West Java's Mosque Council of Indonesia, said he was impressed with the bishop's friendliness and eagerness to understand the local situation. "I believe interreligious harmony can be realized in Tatar Sunda," he said in remarks to UCA News.

Father Antonius Sulastijana of St. Melania Church in Bandung noted that of the 2,791 members of his parish, fewer than 10 are Sundanese, who converted to Catholicism because they married Catholics.

"Sundanese people hold firmly to their tradition, which is reflected in their saying, Islam teh Sunda, Sunda teh Islam (Islam is Sunda, Sunda is Islam). That tradition makes it difficult for Sundanese to be Catholics," the priest admitted.

"Religious conversion is a big problem for Sundanese," he continued. "A convert can face rejection from his family."

Bishop Pujasumarta was serving as vicar general of neighboring Semarang archdiocese when the pope appointed him bishop of Bandung on May 17. He succeeds Bishop Alexander Soentadio Djajasiswaja, who died on Jan. 19, 2006.

According to January 2008 statistics, the 76-year-old diocese has 101,718 Catholics, 0.4 percent of the 25,718,000 people living in its territory. Of about 10,000 Sundanese Catholics, most come from Cigugur subdistrict, where historical reasons prompted some conversions in the past. Fewer than 100 Sundanese from other places have converted to Catholicism, because of marriage.

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