Larantuka, Apostolic Vicariate of

LARANTUKA, APOSTOLIC VICARIATE OF. - Located on the Island of Flores (Indonesia), it comprises the entire civil district of L., detached from the apostolic vicariate of the Lesser Sunda Islands by decree of 8 March 1951, and the two Islands of Pantar and Alor, belonging to the apostolic vicariate of Atamboca. The apostolic vicariate of the Lesser Sunda Islands was on the same date divided into the two other apostolic vicariates of Endeh and Ruteng.

The evangelization of this territory may be briefly summarized in three periods: 1) from the year 1556 to the year 1857: the Dominican Fathers proclaimed the Gospel on the Island of Flores and organized the first Christian communities; but in a painful series of wars and raids by pirates, Mohammedans and Dutch, the mission stations were repeatedly devastated, abandoned and rebuilt; from the beginning of the 18th century to the middle of the 19th century the missionary work remained almost paralyzed; 2) from the year 1857 to the year 1914: the Fathers of the Society of Jesus of the Dutch province resumed the work of evangelization in the district of L., where the Catholics had remained barely 4,000, fallen into bad habits and a crass religious ignorance; 3) from the year 1914 to the present day: the Fathers of the Society of the Divine Word succeeded the Jesuits, to whom the new vicariate is entrusted.

The mission has an area of about 7,575 sq km. Out of a population of 270,750 inhabitants, the Catholics number 90,000 and the Mohammedans 10,000. On the Island of Pantar there are more than 40,000 Protestants. The tribes that inhabit the district of L. are akin in customs and languages, while the inhabitants of the two aforementioned islands are similar to the Papuans. There are 26 religious priests, of whom 2 are natives, 137 churches and 131 prayer houses. A minor seminary was recently opened (1950), with 20 students. There are 69 elementary schools, 7 complementary schools, a domestic school, a teachers' training school. The first apostolic vicar is a native of the Island of Timor, a religious of the Society of the Divine Word, and he resides at L., the principal city of the Island of eastern Flores.

Edoardo Pecorino