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More than seven million Indonesians are preparing to mark the Easter season, considered by many as the holiest period in the Catholic calendar.

Pope Benedict XVI opened Holy Week on Sunday amid a raging crisis facing not only the church but the pope himself over his handling of cases of pedophile priests when he was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.

“Indonesian Catholics have been preparing themselves since before Palm Sunday, when we commemorate the day Jesus entered Jerusalem at the start of his suffering,” Father Dani Sanusi, from the Indonesian Bishops Conference, told the Jakarta Globe on Wednesday.

Sunday was the start of the church’s Holy Week, which includes the Good Friday re-enactment of Christ’s crucifixion and his resurrection on Easter Sunday.

From Thursday night to Sunday, Catholics across Indonesia will hold ceremonial processions depicting crucial moments from Holy Week, from the Last Supper to the Resurrection.

“For us, Easter is very important and influences our lives,” Dani said. “The core of the Christian faith is Easter, especially since its resurrection theme invites people to renew themselves despite their problems. It invites people to move together.”

Father Dani acknowledged that Catholics in Indonesia were concerned by the recent events afflicting Pope Benedict XVI and the church.

“The impact can be seen in the behavior of our priests. This has become a matter for reflection and a test of our commitment to serve,” he said.

“A lot of people from the communion have also asked us about this issue. This has seen the priests reflect on themselves, to make sure that they do not betray their people’s trust.”

“We pray for the pope every day,” Dani said, while adding that in a case such as this, prayer alone would not suffice.

“It must be resolved with wisdom, with better regulations, with discussions illuminated by the spirit of God.”

He said that recent revelations regarding the church had brought the “subject of priests’ lifestyle” to worldwide attention, which would remind priests of their duties.

“There will always be temptations in a certain direction, but if you want to be a priest, you have to be ready to fight off those temptations,” Father Dani said.

He said he believed the pope has responded properly.

“I don’t think he needs to overreact to pressures from certain groups. What he has done so far has been very wise,” he said.

The Easter committee at Jakarta’s main cathedral, in Central Jakarta, has been preparing for the celebration for quite a while.

“For the tableau, we have been preparing since January,” Hanny, from the Catholic Youth of the Cathedral, told the Globe. “About 30 youths are performing during Good Friday services. We will perform two times that day, at noon and 3 p.m.,” she said.

“This year, along with the tableau, we are going to have a choir singing passages from the Bible.”

Some Catholics in Medan, the capital of North Sumatra, will spend the early hours of Good Friday at the graveyard.

“We will visit graves from 5 a.m. to 6 a.m., in addition to worshipping at church,” said Ayu Veronika Siagian, a member of the Batak congregation.

Ayu said children would bring gifts to their deceased parents, such as cigarettes and tuak, a kind of rice wine, and place them on the headstones.

In Papua, parishes will hold Easter ceremonies according to traditional Papuan culture.

“The liturgies will be performed Papuan style,” said Father Nato Gobay, from Christ the King parish in Timika. “Members of all the ethnic groups — Moni, Lani, Nduga, Damal, Kamoro, Mee — wear traditional clothing accompanied by traditional songs.”

In Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, Catholic worshippers are going to put up lanterns outside their homes from Friday until Easter Sunday.

“We have written to the mayor and asked that everyone, Christian or not, put up lanterns,” said Decky Seo, a member of the parish’s Easter youth committee.

In East Flores, a statue of Jesus will be paraded through Rewido city on Friday. After the service, the statue will be floated on the water. The procession ends at Kuce Beach, in front of King Larantuka’s palace in Flores.



Additional reporting by John Package, Eras Poke and Aidi Yursal