PONTIANAK, APOSTOLIC VICARIATE of. — It is situated in the central-western part of Borneo, formerly Dutch (Indonesia). The present-day mission began on 11 February 1905, when the entire Dutch territory of the great island of Borneo was detached from the apostolic vicariate of Batavia (today Djakarta) and erected as the apostolic prefecture of Dutch Borneo, entrusted to the Friars Minor Capuchin of Holland. On 13 March 1918 it was raised to an apostolic vicariate under the same name. From it, on 21 May 1938, Bandjermasin (v.) was detached, and it assumed its present designation of apostolic vicariate of P. On 11 March 1948 this jurisdiction was again divided through the erection Sintang (v.).
Politically, the island of Borneo constitutes one of the ten provinces of the Indonesian Republic, with P. as its capital, under the designation of « Kalimantan Barat ». The population of the island comprises the Daya, Malays, and numerous Chinese. The usual language among the Daya and Malays is Malay. The apostolic vicariate of P. has a territory of 93,880 sq. km. and a population of approximately 987,000 inhabitants. The number of Catholics is 11,696 indigenous and 226 foreign, with 3,585 catechumens. There are 3,400 Protestants, many of whom belong to the « Christian and Missionary Alliance » (Methodists). The Muslims number 493,500 and the pagans 493,000, of whom 296,000 are Indonesians and 197,000 Chinese.
The priest Giovanni Sanders, of the secular clergy of Batavia, was the first to visit Borneo as a missionary, between the end of 1851 and the beginning of 1852. In
1875 the first church was built in Singkawang, where the first missionary station was established. A second station was founded in 1891 at Nenga-Sedjiran. The Jesuits were responsible for it until they assumed the government of the apostolic vicariate of Batavia. After 1896 no missionary maintained a permanent residence in Dutch Borneo, and some priests limited themselves to periodic visits to assist the European and Chinese Catholics, until the arrival of the Dutch Capuchins.
The mission has 39 Capuchins, of whom 35 are Dutch and 4 Chinese; 11 Passionists and 6 fathers of the Chinese Congregation of the Disciples of the Lord; 8 minor seminarians; 41 brothers; 135 foreign and Chinese sisters; 68 catechists; 3 physicians; 188 teachers; 15 primary and 87 secondary stations; 38 sacred buildings; 5 hospitals; 7 pharmacies; 7 orphanages; 1 leprosarium; 87 elementary schools; 4 middle schools; 10 vocational schools; 1 teacher-training school; a newspaper entitled Ephemerides Dominicales is printed there, with a circulation of 500 copies.