On the eve of the last meeting with the Pope, during this ad limina visit, the President of Indonesian bishops, Martinus Dogma Situmorang, of the Diocese of Padang, has a strong criticism against Rome’s centralism, asking for greater autonomy of local Churches, in areas such as the liturgy.
The Indonesian Church is waiting for Rome to approve the new Indonesian translation of the missal.
In order to give its approval, however, the Congregation for Divine Worship has asked bishops to produce a translation that is more faithful to the original text, in accordance with what is set forth in the Liturgiam authenticam teaching.
Bishop Situmorang, a member of the Order of the Capuchin friars, made his criticisms of the Curia public, during an interview with the UCA News agency, claiming that Apostolic Nuncios cannot say: “We come from Rome, so we know how things work better than you” and he stressed that in terms of the liturgy, one must bear in mind the direct knowledge bishops have of the situation. The President of the Indonesian Episcopal Conference invited the Holy See to leave local Churches “more space to be themselves.”
During the interview with UCA News, Situmorang also complained about the practice of transferring bishops from one diocese to another, leaving seats vacant for prolonged periods of time.
The Bishop was referring in particular to the Diocese of Bandung, whose bishop was promoted to another more important seat and has still not been substituted a year later.