Apostolic Nuncio blesses Church in West Papua's hinterland, Appeals for reconciliation and peace in the region

Archbishop Piero Pioppo, the apostolic nuncio to Indonesia, urged the Catholics of St. Joseph Ayawasi Parish to foster an atmosphere of peace and reconciliation in their region.

Archbishop Pioppo delivered this message at the inauguration Mass of the Church structure of Santo Yoseph Ayawasi Maybra, Manokwari-Sorong Diocese, West Papua, on June 29.

“The church must be honored. It has been blessed as a house that maintains the spirit of our community because it encourages us to move forward for good, comforts us in times of trouble, and makes us grow as brothers," the Archbishop was quoted by Antara Papua Barat News.

In addition, he emphasized that the presence of a magnificent and spacious new church building should inspire locals to further develop their spirituality and to demonstrate love and humility in all their interactions with fellow humans. 

"With this, we will mature into new, humble human beings capable of fostering reconciliation and peace in the Land of Papua," he said.

The Vatican's Ambassador hopes that with the presence of the church building, the people's faith will become more firmly rooted, and they will work harder to establish a community by participating in the Eucharist and other sacraments.

“This church resembles a magnificent basilica in the interior of southwest Papua,” said Pioppo.

Five bishops from the region, Archbishops Petrus Canisius Mandagi of Merauke, Agustinus Agus of Pontianak, Bishops Yanuarius Theofilus Matopai You of Jayapura, and Hilarion Datus Lega of Manokwari Sorong, along with approximately sixty priests and nuns and hundreds of faithful, attended the blessing Mass of the church building.

Archbishop Pioppo began the procession by severing the ribbon to open the church door, and then Bishop Hilarion Datus Lega sprinkled all the attendees with holy water.

Upon receipt of the keys from the building's contractor, the new church became the property of the Manokwari-Sorong Diocese and was made available to Catholics as a place of worship.

Bishop Lega admired the Ayawasi Parish Catholics who contributed ideas and resources to the construction of the church.

Church consecrated after nine years of construction

This new church was constructed on an area of 1 hectare, has dimensions of 43 meters in length, 23 meters in breadth, and 27 meters in height, and can accommodate up to 1,200 people.

Since the groundbreaking of the building, the development process has occurred in stages, from construction to completion.

"It is not identical to the image” (design, ed.). Philipus Fanataf, the head of the church's construction committee, was quoted in Tribune Sorong as saying, "There are parts that we added and modified."

The development process encountered obstacles for nine consecutive years, beginning with the replacement of the construction committee and ending when COVID-19 struck in early 2021.

At that time, Fanataf almost gave up hope because the committee owed more than 1 billion IDR to the contractors.

The debt was progressively repaid, and the project was resumed as a result of the cohesiveness of the community.

"As far as I am aware, this church spent more than 11 billion rupiahs overseeing the construction from the ground up," he said.

Fanataf claims that several organizations contributed to the funds, including the Ministry of Religion, private donors, and the provincial, district, or municipal governments of Southwest Papua.

"Approximately 75 percent of the donations came from the faithful," he said.

Fanataf, on behalf of the committee, acknowledged and thanked all donors for their thoughtfulness and benevolence, which enabled the completion of the church's construction.

As a result of the Vatican Ambassador's presence, all the difficulties and exhaustion encountered during the construction process were worthwhile.

When he was asked how he felt when Archbishop Pioppo visited his church, Fanataf's eyes welled up with emotions, and he was on the verge of crying.

"I am delighted and moved. "I did not expect the Vatican Ambassador to travel so far to inaugurate our church in Ayawasi," he said.

Bishop Hilarion Datus Lega, bishop of the Manokwari-Sorong diocese, celebrated the 20th anniversary of his episcopal ordination and was also prayed for during the church's benediction Mass.