Perth’s Indonesian Catholic Community celebrated its sixteenth aniuiversary on Sunday 9 November.
Father Blasco Fonseca, the archdiocesan vicar for migrants, honoured this active community by being the concelebrant during the regular Indonesian Mass at St Benedict’s Church in Ardross led by the Indonesian chaplain, Father Ari Pawarto.
In his homily, Father Blasco encouraged the lay faithful to use the church and their own heart as the mother temple.
Later, Christian Taniputra, the current chairman of the organisation which has over 400 families, urged everyone to work together to make the community more dynamic and to create greater harmony.
After the Mass, lunch was provided in the old parish hall with the Indonesian tradition of slicing the “tumpeng” (yellow rice cone) – a tradition somewhat similar to cutting a birthday cake in Australia.