After the suspension imposed by Covid, thousands of people from the country’s 37 provinces gathered for the religious song festival. Card. Suharyo: “Important sign of unity in a multi-ethnic and multicultural country like Indonesia.”
Kupang () – Catholics in Indonesia have experienced a great national gathering in recent days on the occasion of Pesparani, the national festival of religious song, one of the most important occasions for the community to meet. The first edition was held in Ambon, capital of the province of Moluccas, in 2018. Now, after the suspension imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic, the second Pesparani could finally be held in Kupang, the capital of the province. East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), in which thousands of people from all 37 provinces of Indonesia participated.
The highlight of the Kupang event was the spectacular Patajanggung traditional dance, originating from East Sumba Island, performed by some 10,000 students throughout the city. Together with the bishops and a dozen priests, the president of the Episcopal Conference of Indonesia, Card. Ignatius Suharyo, Archbishop of Jakarta, led the opening ceremony with a grand Eucharistic celebration attended by nearly 5,000 people.
In his homily, the cardinal stressed how important the unity among Indonesian Catholics promoted by this festival was. “At this moment -he commented-, we are celebrating as disciples of Christ our Catholic communion at a national level, coming from all corners of this great country. As a multi-ethnic and multicultural country, we must give thanks for being united by the Pancasila doctrine and by our national language.”
“Thanks to the Pesparani, Indonesian Catholics are gathered in this place and at this specific time to celebrate our faith and, together with other Indonesian compatriots, to understand this event as a good opportunity to promote interreligious human brotherhood among Indonesians,” he added. the cardinal, underscoring the fact that Kiai Hajj Jamaludin Ahmad, a leading figure in the Kupang Muslim community, was also involved in organizing it.
At the end of the homily, Cardinal Suharyo expressed his hope that the four-day festival would be a celebration of the spirit of Sumpah Pemuda, the commitment of all young Indonesians, and invited the Catholic community and all people from other religious communities to sing Satu Nusa, Satu Bangsa (“One Country, One Nation”), a national anthem.
Finally, it was decided that the next edition of the Pesparani will be held next year in the greater Jakarta metropolitan area.
