Because Ash Wednesday coincides with a super election day in Indonesia this year, a local Catholic bishop simply postponed the celebration: the ceremonies will not take place until Thursday.
As Bishop Siprianus Hormat of Ruteng on the island of Flores announced in a pastoral letter to the Catholics of his diocese, this year’s Ash Wednesday celebrations with the Ash rite will not take place until Thursday, February 15, Kathpress reported on Monday.
Some areas only celebrate on Sundays
Especially in parishes in more remote areas, the laying of ashes can also take place on the first Sunday of Lent on February 18, the bishop said. The background to the decision is the concern that the necessary attention of citizens to the elections could overshadow the important spiritual moment at the beginning of Lent, as the Vatican mission’s “Fides” press service reported (Monday).
A photo of the bishop:
Believers must be able to exercise the right to vote
The faithful must participate actively and according to their conscience in political elections “by exercising their right to vote in a free and responsible manner and electing leaders who will work for the common good,” Hormat wrote. At the same time, it must also be ensured that Catholics celebrate the beginning of the penitential period before Easter without distraction and polarization in a true spirit of penance and with fasting and prayer.
National and regional parliamentary elections will take place in Indonesia on February 14. At the same time, the first round of the presidential elections is scheduled. Due to the central importance of the office of president in the country’s political system, the election of a successor to President Joko Widodo, who may not run again after two terms in office, is of particular interest.
Only one in ten Indonesians is Christian
Indonesia, a country of 275 million people, is the fourth most populous country in the world. In the constitutional preamble “Pancasila” it is defined as a secular state. With approximately 230 million Muslims in the population, Indonesia is also the largest Muslim-dominated state in the world. Religion plays an important role. About ten percent of the inhabitants are Christians.
Source: Krone
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