Instruments and institutions at the service of the disabled. And permits for the construction of two new churches in the archdioceses of Jakarta and Pelambang. These are the new projects put in place in agreement with the local Church by the Indonesian Ministry of Religious Affairs, through its Directorate for Catholics (Bimas Katolik Kemenag), presented in a meeting held with the Bishops’ Conference.
In particular, the government will take care of the dissemination of a Braille translation of the Gospel of Mark for the visually impaired and the establishment of two Catholic high schools to train catechists prepared to serve the disabled in the district of Nagekeo, located on the island of Flores, in eastern Nusa Tenggara province, and on the island of Nias, in Sumatra province.
‘Our agency has a primary focus on the neglected people in the remote areas of the country,’ explained the Director of the Directorate for Catholics, Mr Supraman, ‘providing a financial aid package to establish or renovate places of worship and to procure essential tools for apostolate in education or other areas. The project for the disabled is being carried out in cooperation with the Ministry of Social Affairs.
Expressing his thanks, the President of the Indonesian Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Antonius Subianto of Bandung, commented: ’We really have things in common: the good spirit of helping others, especially the neglected people.