PURWOKERTO, APOSTOLIC VICARIATE OF
Situated in the central part of the island of Java (Indonesia), it comprises the civil districts of Tegal, Pekalongan, Wonosobo, Bagelen, northern and southern Banjumas. In December 1926, the missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus arrived there. Between 1927 and 1939 they founded several mission stations, while the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart and the Ursulines opened schools there.
Before that time, for about a century, the Jesuits of Batavia had periodically visited those places, limiting themselves to the administration of the Sacraments to Catholics scattered here and there. On 23 April 1932 the mission was erected into a prefecture, being detached from the territory of the Apostolic Vicariate of Java (v. 1937). The mission was elevated to an Apostolic Vicariate. It has an area of 14,466 sq. km. and a population of 6,500,000 inhabitants. There are 4,389 Catholics with 589 catechumens; 5,000 Protestants; 4,000,000 Muslims; 2,480,000 pagans. There are 13 priests, of whom 3 are Indonesians; 20 brothers; 60 sisters, of whom 6 are Indonesians; 2 major and 8 minor seminaries; 24 catechists; 31 teachers; 1 hospital; 2 pharmacies; 7 orphanages; 17 elementary schools; 10 middle schools; 1 high school; 4 vocational schools; 2 normal schools; 15 sacred buildings; 10 primary and 9 secondary stations. The associations of Catholic Action are well organized.