ASIA/INDONESIA - Catholics contribute to the fight against corruption

Wednesday, 24 October 2018 corruption politics civil society society religious minorities christianity local churches jesuits

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Jakarta (Agenzia Fides) - While the Indonesian government led by President Joko Widodo has launched a special economic system to reduce corruption, even the Catholic faithful do their part to fight it. According to observers, the business sector and the public sector are those that suffer mainly from widespread corruption, with abuse of office, extortion, misappropriation of funds. The government commission's commitment to eradicate corruption has slightly improved the Corruption Perception Index (CPI), bringing it from 26 in 2008 to 32 in 2012, to 37 in 2017 (a higher index corresponds a greater perception of transparency in society, ed).
While the election campaign for the presidential and parliamentary elections in April 2019 is under way, there is an urgent need in public opinion to strongly support an anti-corruption spirit and the need to choose non-corrupt political representatives. The mass-media discusses the fact that those who have been convicted of corruption will be able to stand for election again: the absence of a legislation in this regard is perceived as a failure of the state.
In the meantime, initiatives of civil society were established, such as "Ehem Movement", started by the Bhumiksara Foundation together with the Indonesian Bishops' Conference (KWI).
Since its birth in 2012, this organization has sensitized on the spirit of moral integrity, organizing seminars and courses for hundreds of prominent personalities in many dioceses and religious communities throughout Indonesia. The Movement involved professional figures from universities, civil society groups, entrepreneurship.
Last July a seminar of the "Ehem Movement" was held with local government officials in Melawi district, in the diocese of Sintang, in western Kalimantan, while another recent seminar was held in Jakarta with 40 young Jesuits from Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Timor-Leste and Indonesia.
During the seminar the Ignatian spirituality was suggested as a "method" to observe cases of corruption and as a basis for building personal commitment to transparency and moral integrity.
"Often we do not think how a little corruptive behavior can create negative effects", says to Fides Amadea Prajna, among the participants. Aaron Lee, a Jesuit priest from Malaysia, notes that "the anti-corruption spirit is in line with the vow of poverty". According to Dulphicai, from Thailand, "it is urgent to map the complexity of corrupting acts", while Aditya hopes that Indonesian Catholics can begin a new style of life free from corruptive behavior: "We must start being responsible for daily activities and tasks, in community life".
Speaking to Agenzia Fides, the Rector of Hermanum College, Fr. Sudiarjo confirms that "it is necessary to study the phenomenon of corruption in a broadminded manner and that the Ignatian pedagogical approach, ie the process of experience-analysis-reflection-action can be applied to trigger a psychological mechanism that does not tolerate any form of corruptive behavior". (MH) (Agenzia Fides, 24/10/2018)