Pontianak, Apostolic Vicariate of

PONTIANAK, APOSTOLIC VICARIATE OF. - It is located in the central-western part of Borneo, formerly Dutch (Indonesia). The present 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 into the apostolic prefecture of Dutch Borneo, entrusted to the Dutch Friars Minor Capuchin. On 13 March 1918 it was elevated to an apostolic vicariate of the same name. From it, on 21 May 1938, the apostolic prefecture of Bandjermasin (v.) was detached, and it assumed its present name of apostolic vicariate of P. On 11 March 1948 this circumscription was again divided for the erection of the apostolic prefecture of Sintang (v.).

The island of Borneo politically constitutes one of the ten provinces of the Indonesian Republic, with capital P., under the name of "Kalimantan Barat". The population of the island comprises the Daya, the Malays and numerous Chinese. The language commonly used among the Daya and the Malays is Malay. The apostolic vicariate of P. has a territory of 93,880 sq km and a population of about 987,000 inhabitants. The number of Catholics is 11,696 natives and 226 foreigners, with 3,585 catechumens. Protestants number 3,400, many of whom belong to the "Christian and Missionary Alliance" (Methodists). Muslims number 493,500 and 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 mission station was established. A second station was founded in 1891 in Nenga-Sedjiran. The Jesuits had charge of it until they assumed the government of the apostolic vicariate of Batavia. After 1896 no missionary had a stable residence in Dutch Borneo, and certain priests limited themselves to periodic visits for the assistance of 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 sisters, both foreign and Chinese; 68 catechists; 3 doctors; 188 teachers; 15 primary and 87 secondary stations; 38 sacred buildings; 5 hospitals; 7 pharmacies; 7 orphanages; 1 leper colony; 87 elementary schools; 4 middle schools; 10 vocational schools; 1 teachers' training school; a newspaper is printed there entitled Ephemerides Dominicales with a circulation of 500 copies.

Edoardo Pecoraro