Parishes offer livestock for Aidil Adha

Aug 16, 2019

By Katharina R. Lestari
Parishes in Jakarta Archdiocese offered cattle for Aidil Adha celebrations in order to promote brotherhood among Catholics and Muslims in Indonesia’s capital.

In all, 42 out of 66 parishes in the archdiocese offered 234 goats and seven cows for the “Feast of Sacrifice,” which fell on Aug 11 this year.

They included Our Lady of the Assumption Cathedral Parish in Central Jakarta, which handed over an 800-kg cow to nearby Istiqlal Mosque, and St Joseph Parish in East Jakarta, which donated a 300kg cow and two goats to local Muslims.

“This is an expression of our love. This is to show our solidarity with Muslims. I hope it can promote brotherhood among us today and tomorrow,” Divine Word Fr Servatius Dange of St Joseph Parish said as he handed over the cattle to Zuli Agus, a local Muslim leader, at parish-run St Anthony School in Matraman sub-district.

Agus welcomed the parish’s initiative and said, “As I distributed coupons to local Muslims, they were surprised and so excited at the parish participating in Aidil Adha by offering the cattle.”

According to Laurentius Yoseph Nirmono, coordinator of the parish’s programme, it was the first time that the second oldest parish in Jakarta had offered cattle for the Islamic feast.

“We want to build good relations with our Muslim brothers and sisters and show our compassion with the disadvantaged,” he said, adding that the meat from the sacrificial animals had been distributed to about 240 Muslims, including street sellers and security guards.

Herman Sutisna, a member of the Public Order Agency, received a box of meat. “It does not matter who gives it and what their religious background is. The most important thing is that they give it to me wholeheartedly,” he said.
Meanwhile, Fr Antonius Suyadi, who heads the Jakarta Archdiocese’s Commission for Ecumenical and Inter-religious Affairs, said many parishes in the archdiocese had taken part in similar initiatives since 2015.

“The aim is to promote the values of togetherness, respect and participation. In general, the initiative is welcomed by Muslims since they understand that our participation is to promote togetherness, instead of being involved in their religious practices,” he said.

However, he acknowledged that a few parishes had not participated in the initiative yet as “each parish has a different financial situation.” --ucanews.com