The Catholic Mission in the Lesser Sunda Islands – Indonesia, under the Society of the Divine Word (SVD), From One Apostolic Prefecture to Two Apostolic Vicariates (1913-1942).

Motivation for and the Scope of the Research

The SVDs began their mission work in the Lesser Sunda Islands in 1913 in Lahurus of Dutch-Timor. At that time, Dutch-Timor had only two mission stations with about 2,000 Christians. The eastern and central parts of Flores already had old Christian communities with more than 30,000 adherents, but at the beginning, Flores was not included in the territory of the SVD’s mission. Flores was handed over to the SVDs only on 20 July 1914. By the end of 1939 (26 years later), Flores could count about 343,794 adherents, while in 1949 there were 506,940 . This rapid development in numbers happened during the period of the SVD 1 presence.

Right from the beginning, Fr. Petrus Noyen, SVD realized that the western half of Flores had been neglected by the Jesuits because of reports claiming that this was an Islamic area. In reality, the Islamic influence only existed along the coast in places such as Ende, Nangapanda, Labuan Bajo, Reo, and Borong. The inhabitants of the inland areas still adhered to traditional religions. Flores was the only larger island in the area upon which Islam had not yet made great inroads. So, the Divine Word Missionaries tried to proclaim the Gospel to its peoples. Nowadays, Flores island has a population which is about 80 % Catholic. Thus, it is known as the Catholic island.

This study will deal mainly with these questions: How did the Divine Word Missionaries enable Flores, and other islands in the Lesser Sundas, to become a Catholic Island and region in Indonesia? Were there other forces at work? Or Were there also other behind-the-scenes forces pushing for the development of the Catholic Church in this area? Another question to raise is to what extent the SVD missionary work corresponded to the Universal Church’s idea of mission in that period?

The scope of this study is to try to find an adequate explanation of the abovementioned questions. Historical facts that can be found in various archives are the most appropriate way to better understand the current situation of Flores in particular and the region of the Lesser Sundas in general.