Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Semarang (Agenzia Fides) - The priest is a man called to build "community" at all levels: in the community, in relationships with other religions, in civil society in a pluralistic nation like Indonesia. This is what was said by His Exc. Mgr. Johannes Pujasumarta, Archbishop of Semarang and Secretary General of the Episcopal Conference of Indonesia, in a training seminar, devoted primarily to the new priests, organized by the Archdiocese of Semarang in recent days.
As reported by the local church to Fides, the seminar stressed that it is the duty of every priest to develop the virtues of "man of communion". The reflection proposed by Mgr. Pujasumarta, followed a theological, anthropological, Christological, ecclesiological perspective, but also touched the moral, psychological, pastoral field, and the context of Indonesian society. Recalling that "Gratia non tollit, sed perficit naturam " ("Grace does not destroy but perfections nature") - as St. Thomas Aquinas says- the Archbishop invited the priests "to have the courage to believe in the Word of God and to abandon oneself to grace, in the certainty that, it is far from destroying all that is true and good, it reveals a broader and deeper wisdom of all human thought: the wisdom given by the Holy Spirit, who teaches life in Christ ". Grace, he added, does not harm human virtues such as wisdom, justice, courage, but improves and strengthens the Christian virtues: faith, hope and love, which makes the priest a "man of communion".
Ultimate source of "communion" – he continued his reflection - is the Eucharist, through which "man of communion", which acts in persona Christi, establishes communion with God and the faithful, a sign and sacrament of the holy trinity communion. Communion - the Archbishop remarked - is very important especially in the context of the Indonesian nation, characterized by a large ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious pluralism.
To be "men of communion" today in Indonesia, he explained, encounters two main threats: "communitarianism" and "individualism". "Communitarianism" is the emphasis on the identity of a specific ethnic or religious community, it brings masses of men to be the "crowd", in which the person becomes anonymous and can easily be exposed to manipulation, ideologies and violence. Individualism, however, is revealed in selfishness, in conducting one’s life without thinking about others. "Communion", the antidote to these two extremes, implies a connection between the person and consciousness, which is a fundamental key to being human. "Communion" is expressed in an attitude of love and mutual respect among people, core values in community life, helping to build unity in the pluralistic Indonesian nation. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 15/06/2011)
