LESSER SUNDA, APOSTOLIC VICARIATE of the Islands of. — The territory, called « Kleine Sunda Eilanden », was detached on 16 September 1913 from the Apostolic Vicariate of Batavia (today Djakarta) and erected as an Apostolic Prefecture of the I. of the L. S. The island of Flores, together with the adjacent islands, was nevertheless excluded. The following year the same prefecture was entrusted to the Society of the Divine Word, incorporating the island of Flores as well.
On 12 March 1922 the mission was elevated to an Apostolic Vicariate. On 25 May 1936 Dutch Timor was detached from it and erected as an Apostolic Vicariate of the same name (today Atambua). On 14 July 1950 the two islands of Bali and Lombok were detached and erected as the Apostolic Prefecture of Den Pasar, named after the principal city of Bali.
This ecclesiastical district comprises a territory of 10,538 sq. km and a population of 2,500,000 inhabitants, of whom 1,495 are Catholics, with 113 catechumens; 2,220 are Protestants; 1,000,000 Muslims; and 1,495,000 pagans. On the island of Bali
(courtesy of Mons. A. P. Frutasi)
PICCOLA OPERA DELLA DIVINA PROVVIDENZA — The Village of Charity « D. Luigi Orione » at Camaldoli, one of the ten sections of Fr. Orione’s Little Cottolengo in Genoa for the very poor.
PICCOLA SONDA — PICC. SERVANTS OF THE MOST SACRED HEART OF JESUS
The inhabitants are for the most part Hindus and animists; in Lombok, on the other hand, Islam predominates. In 1935 a Verbite father established his residence in Lombok. There are 10 priests of the Divine Word; 3 minor seminarians, 25 preparatory-school pupils; 5 catechists; 5 physicians; 9 sacred buildings; 2 hospitals; an orphanage; 3 elementary schools.
On 8 March 1951, the entire territory of the apostolic vicariate of the P. S. I. was divided into three vicariates, namely: Endeh, Larantuka (v.), Ruteng (v.).
The beginnings of evangelization in the P. S. I. date back to 1556. From that date until 1860 they were under the care of the Portuguese Dominicans. From the beginning of the eighteenth century until the middle of the nineteenth, however, missionary work remained almost paralyzed because of Muslim oppression and the struggle waged by the Dutch Calvinists. In 1618 Father B. da Fortaleza and a confrere were killed for the faith. From 1860 to 1914 these islands were under the care of the Dutch Jesuit fathers. From 1914 to the present they have been administered by the Society of the Divine Word.
The apostolic vicariate of Endeh, so named after the city of residence of the Ordinary, situated in the central part of the island of Flores, comprises three civil districts: Ngada, Endeh, and Maumore. The two islands of Sumba and Sunbawa remain temporarily attached to it until, once a new missionary institute willing to assume responsibility for those islands has been found, they are constituted as an independent ecclesiastical jurisdiction. With an area of 34,000 sq. km., the population is 5,200,000 inhabitants, of whom 243,557 are Catholics, with 8078 catechumens; 10,700 are Protestants; 4,450,000 Muslims; 450,000 pagans (animists). There are 79 priests, of whom 10 are Indonesians, and 31 brothers; 92 nuns, of whom 42 are Indonesian; 2 major seminarians and 100 minor seminarians; 982 catechists; 585 teachers; one hospital; 10 boarding schools; 204 elementary schools; 2 middle schools; 2 vocational schools; 3 teacher-training schools. Two newspapers are published there: Bentan, with 3250 copies, and Pandu Pendidikan, with 2100 copies.