AMBON –the provincial capital of the Mollucas – will host the first ever held National Catholic Choir Festival or PESPARANI (Pesta Paduan Suara Gerejani) next 26 October to 2 November 2018.
Unlike the Indonesian Christian Protestant who has for decades held the similar national event entitled PESPARAWI, the Catholics will held their first national event which is hosted by the Ministry of Religious Affairs (Kemenag RI).
Some 13 thousands catholic participants will join this first national choir festival. They are from 34 provinces across Indonesia.
Participants represent their provinces rather than their dioceses
“We are now making a new history,” said Minister for Religious Affairs Lukman Hakim Saifuddin in a statement in Central Jakarta ahead of a public seminar on “building the national harmony while also defending the Unitary Republic of Indonesia through performing arts: from Jakarta to Ambon.”
Minister Saifuddin delivered his personal notes on the side-lines of the host while also welcoming scores of potential participants and members of the organizing committee ahead of next October’s national event for the Indonesian Catholics.
By choosing Ambon, it also reflect the new social phenomena in Indonesia that horizontal violence prompted by religious sectarianism is no longer existing in Indonesia.
Between 1999-2001, Ambon was becoming the hot bed of barbaric horizontal violence between the radical Muslims and far-right Christians, claiming hundreds of lives from both parties and made thousand people homeless, fled the scene to seek refuge to other places and hundreds of homes and other buildings destroyed or set into fire.
Ambon is now enjoys its normalcy again as the “city of music” referring to several great Indonesian musicians have their original native city in Ambon or in the Southeast Moluccas.
Boosting the morale of Catholics to sing
The event is organized by the so-called Lembaga Pembinaan dan Pengembangan Pesparani Katolik Nasional (LP3KN) or roughly translated into The Catholic National Pesparani Formation and Development Agency.
Speaking representing the host LP3KN, Prof. Adrianus Meliala expressed his strong hopes that Catholics will likely have their good opportunity to meet each other’s as members of the Indonesian Catholic church.
“Through the very Catholic performing arts festival in Ambon, we are boosting the morale of our fellow catholic church-goers to promote the multi-culturalism in the nation,” said Meliala in a statement.
The Indonesian Bishops of Conference (KWI) has officially supported this initiative promoted by the LP3KN –a new agency in the Ministry of Religious Affairs.
“Bene cantat bis orat”
Speaking on the side-lines of the organizing committee, Putut Prabantoro endorsed all participants to promote the catholic “treasure” in the forms of liturgical music, religious songs and others during next October’s national music festival.
“Whoever sings well, then he prays twice,” said this former seminarian referring to a Latin proverb that says “Bene cantat, bis orat”.
Speaking with Sesawi.Net on the side-lines of next October national event, Prabantoro said that there are five different music and song competition. They are mixed adult choir team, all-male choir team, all-women choir team, Gregorian music with adults choir team and Gregorian with children-cum-teenager choir team.
Gandung Suhardono from Bogor Diocese express his strong appreciation on this initiative to hold a national catholic music and song festival in Ambon.
In some provinces, he said, there is more than just one dioceses. “It is likely free that each diocese will send their own entourage representing both the province and the diocese,” he explains to Sesawi.Net.
Sr. Carolina SFS, a Franciscan nun from Sukabumi in West Java, joined a seminar which is designed as a warming-up event to heading the upcoming PESPARANI. At the end of this event, she performed some songs before the audience.
Due to huge number of participants during next October’s PESPARANI, both participants and organizing committee will stay in the local families in Ambon.
This is done to promote social tolerance and a sense of brotherhood among fellow Indonesians.
