Dominican Mission in Surabaya, Indonesia

On December 28, 2014, Air Asia flight QZ8501 from Surabaya, Indonesia disappeared halfway on its flight to Singapore. Days after its disappearance, the wreckage of the airplane and bodies of a handful of passengers were found. Members of a family belonging to the parish of Gereja Katolik Redemptor Mundi (Redemptor Mundi Catholic Church) were among those who perished in the plane crash. The administration of this parish church was turned over by the Diocese of Surabaya to members of the Dominican Province of the Philippines a few years ago. Now, there are four Dominicans assigned in this parish, two Filipinos and two Indonesians. One of the two young Indonesian priests is the parish priest, while the other one is studying in Rome, taking up a Doctoral degree in Theology. They were among the first Indonesians to be ordained as Dominicans a few years ago.

I visited our Dominican missionary priests in Surabaya a week ago to have a look at our ministry there. It is part of my job as the Promoter of Missions in the Dominican Province of the Philippines. Surabaya is considered the second largest and major city in Indonesia. If Cebu City in the Visayas is second to Manila in Luzon, Surabaya is second to Jakarta in Indonesia. It takes about three and a half hours travel by airplane from Manila to Singapore and about two hours from Singapore to Surabaya. Rumah Santo Tomas Aquino (House of St. Thomas Aquinas), the residence of our Dominican brethren in Surabaya is about forty five minutes land travel from Juanda International Airport. The vehicles in Indonesia are right hand drive, and traffic, especially during the rush hours in the afternoon, might just be worse than Manila. There are very few public transportation in Surabaya — the likes of our FX vans in Manila, but without aircon, taxis and buses. There are a lot of private cars and motorcycles, which probably accounts for the worst traffic condition in the city. There are also quite a number of hotels and malls in Surabaya.

The main ministry of our Dominican brethren in this part of Indonesia is pastoral in nature, with the parish church as the center of their daily activities. There are daily masses at 5:30 in the morning, with a good number of mass attendees, which may number about one hundred or more. On Sundays there are five masses in the parish church, three in the morning and two in the afternoon and evening. The two masses in the morning and one in the afternoon are in Bahasa (Indonesian), while one mass in the morning and the evening mass is in English. The parish church, which can sit maybe about six hundred to eight hundred, is almost always full in all its Sunday masses. A group of Filipinos sing as a choir during the English mass. The parish has about three thousand five hundred parishioners. But on Sundays, even Catholics who belong to other parishes attend mass at Redemptor Mundi. A free clinic is attached to the parish office which serves the medical and health needs of the indigent members of the community. There are many Muslim residents around the parish church.

The parishioners of Redemptor Mundi are very active and it is evident in their vibrant parish life. From the young altar servers who are in their elementary and high school years, to the lay extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist, the readers and the choir, everybody seems to be very enthusiastic in their service to the church. There is also a group of Lay Dominicans who just recently made their first profession. Most of them serve in the daily celebration of the Eucharist as leaders in the morning prayers, readers at mass and choir. Some of them even volunteer to cook and wash the dishes of the Dominican fathers at breakfast. A group of English speaking young adults who call themselves “Gaudens Cor”, Latin for Joyful Hearts also meet regularly in the parish church center and have various outreach activities and projects.

There are also Indonesian Dominican seminarians who live near the parish church. At present, there are nine seminarians who staying on a rented house about five minutes’ walk from the parish church. These seminarians are being prepared to serve as Dominicans in Indonesia in the future.