The archbishop led a Mass to mark his cardinalship
Scores of Catholic figures and hundreds of former seminarians attended the service
The cardinal told the faithful to be compassionate and “follow up the good hopes for the Saviour's arrival
Jakarta (AsiaNews) – Card Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo
archbishop of Jakarta and president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Indonesia (KWI)
led a Mass to mark his elevation to the cardinalship
he said that compassion "makes the world better"
"we are called to prepare ourselves to welcome into our daily life the world’s Saviour
there is no need to wait until the day of judgment: we must receive the Coming of the Kingdom of God now
The service (video) took place last Saturday at the Indonesia Catholic University in Atma Jaya
in four groups: Paguyuban Gembala Utama (PGU
Berkat Santo Yusup (BKSY) and CP-61 (the cardinal's 1961 cohort at the Mertoyudan minor seminary)
Card Suharyo told those present that he was utterly surprised when he heard that he had been elevated to the rank of cardinal
following the path laid down by the Second Vatican Council:
of the poor above all and all those who suffer
sadness and anguish of the disciples of Christ” (Gaudium et spes)
In order to respond again to the call of the Universal Church, the Archdiocese of Jakarta launched a fundraiser for the Diocese of Agats
in one of the poorest and remotest areas of Papua province
Card Suharyo spent a few days in the diocese during the celebrations marking its 50th anniversary
the archbishop talked about his journey in order to promote the spirit of compassion of his community towards less fortunate Catholics
“After a long flight I arrived in Ewer
with its traditional ‘bush’ airport
it took me almost eight hours on a small motorboat to reach the village of Momogu
I was moved and so I raised money among Jakarta Catholics
so that these disadvantaged people could be treated
they told me that there is no leprosy in Momogu.”
The cardinal insisted that “We are called today to be compassionate towards our neighbours
We must follow up our good hopes for the Saviour's arrival by showing great mercy to others.”
the Mass offered a chance for a special fundraising for two projects
One is by PGU aimed at supporting education in 14 major and 40 minor Indonesian seminaries
The other is sponsored by BKSY under the patronage of the archdiocese and is designed to help the poorest families to pay funeral costs for their dearly departed
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