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‘There is so much involved…’ The Sisters of Charity of Saint Charles Borromeo in Indonesia in the Period from The Second World War

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2016

Liesbeth Labbeke
Liesbeth Labbeke*
Affiliation:
Catholic Theological University of Utrecht
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Extract

Palembang, 17 April 2603. I am here together with sister Catherinia, sister Timothée, sister Paulie, sister Rumolda and sister Theresetta. The others live in the camp of Bengkoelen. We are all happy and healthy. There is plenty of work. We help the women and the children. Life is always beautiful and worthwhile, but especially the present time is praiseworthy. There are so many causes for gratitude, if one manages to keep considering things in a transcendental way. We have no information about the sisters on Java. Yours sincerely, Sister Laurentia, women’s camp, Palembang.

Type
Research Article
Information
Studies in Church History Subsidia , Volume 13: Missions and Missionaries , 2000 , pp. 186 - 199
Copyright
Copyright © Ecclesiastical History Society 2000 

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References

1 This telegram was sent in 1943, during the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies. Therefore, the date is given in Japanese chronology.

2 Maastricht, Mother House of the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Charles Borromeo, Archief van het Algemeen Bestuur 1837-1967, inv. no. 46.

3 The basic work on the history of the congregation from 1837 until 1940 is Eijt, José, Religieuze vrouwen: bruid, moeder, zuster. De geschiedenis van twee Nederlandse zustercongregaties, 1820-1940 (Hilversum, 1995).Google Scholar

4 SrSatini, Louisie, B., C., Kongregatie van de Liefdezusters van de Heiltge Carolus Borromeus in Indonesia. Haar geschiedenis van 1918-1960 (Maastricht, 1992).Google Scholar

5 Eijt, Religieuze vrouwen, p. 265.

6 Satini, Kongregatie, pp. 21-45.

7 Eijt, Religieuze vrouwen, p. 269.

8 Dujardin, Carine, Missionering en moderniteit. De Belgische Minderbroeders in China 1872- 1940 (Louvain, 1996), pp. 258–61 and 434–7.Google Scholar

9 Loffeld, Edouard, Sp., C.S., De grondgedachte van missiewerk en missieactie (Gemert, [1942]), pp. 12–18.Google Scholar

10 Dujardin, Missionering, p. 435. As early as 1926, Pope Pius XI even pleaded for the foundation of special congregations for natives, adapted to the local culture, in his encyclical Rerum Ecclesiae. See Loffeld, De grondgedachte, p. 16. I have not yet found out why the congregation did not follow this recommendation.

11 Eijt, Religieuze vrouwen, pp. 269-70.

12 Sr M. Annette, P.K (m.m.v. Pater Gerlach, O.F.M. Cap.), Geschiedenis der Penitenten-Recollectinen van Etten (np, 1951), pp. 230, 240, and 242.

13 Eijt, Religieuze vrouwen, p. 272.

14 Satini, Kongregatie, p. 78.

15 Ricklefs, M. C., A History of Modem Indonesia c. 1300 to the Present (London and Basingstoke, 1981), p. 184.Google Scholar

16 Satini, Kongregatie, pp. 58-60 and 75-84.

17 Cribb, Robert and Brown, Colin, Modem Indonesia. A History since 1945 (Singapore, 1995), pp. 17–31.Google Scholar

18 Three memorial books have been published since the end of the wan Lustrum in het zilver. 125 Jaar Liefdezusters van de H. Carolus Borromeus ‘Onder de Bogen’Maastricht (Nijmegen, 1962), 192 pp.; Sain, Sr Laurentia de, B., C., Een ster ging mee naar het Oosten… 50 jaar missiearbeid in Indonesia van de Liefdezusters van de H. Carolus Borromeus (Nijmegen, 1968), 49 pp.Google Scholar; and van Bemmel, Sr Timothée, B., C., 50 Jaar inzet voor Zuid-Sumatra 1930-1980 (Nijmegen, 1988), 79 pp.Google Scholar

19 De Sain, Een ster, p. 49.

20 Maastricht, Mother House of the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Charles Borromeo, Archief van het Algemeen Bestuur 1837-1967, inv. no. 733, p. 1.

21 Satini, Kongregatie.

22 Unless it is explicitly indicated, the following paragraphs are based on Satini, Kongregatie, pp. 103-18.

23 Heythuysen, Archive of the Dutch Province of the Franciscanessen van Heythuysen, Circulaires van de missie-oversten in Nederlands-Indië/Indonesië; Bijlage: voordracht van G. de Quay sj, 17-5-1946, p. 2.1 thank Sr Antonius Gussenhoven and Gian Ackermans for making this text available to me.

24 Circulaires van de missie-oversten in Nederlands-Indië/Indonesië; Bijlage: voordracht van G. de Quay sj, 17-5-1946, p. 2.

25 Ibid.

26 Maier, Henk, Minde, Dan van, and Poeze, Harry, Wisseling van de wacht. Indonesiërs over de Japanse bezetting 1942-1945 (Leiden, 1995), p. 8.Google Scholar

27 Dujardin, Missionering, pp. 433-6.

28 Bank, Jan, Katholieken en de Indonesische revolutie (Dieren, 1984), pp. 38–9.Google Scholar

29 Muskens, M. P. M., Indonesië. Een strijd om nationale identiteit: nationalisten, islamieten, katholieken (Bussum, 1969), p. 396Google Scholar, and Boelaars, Huub, Indonesianisasi. Het omvormingsproces van de katholieke kerk in Indonesie tot de Indonesische katholieke kerk (Kampen, 1991), p. 82.Google Scholar

30 Bank, Katholieken, p. 121.

31 This paragraph is the result of personal observation in several convents in Yogyakarta, Bandung, and Jakarta (Indonesia).

32 Dutch food.