Franciscus Georgius Josephus van Lith, SJ or often called Frans van Lith or affectionately Romo van Lith ( Javanese:"Father van Lith"; 17 May 1863 – 9 January 1926), was a Jesuit priest from

Oirschot Oirschot (; ''Orskot'' in the local dialect) is a municipality and a town in the southern Netherlands. It is situated from the city of Eindhoven and from the city of Tilburg in the province North Brabant (Noord-Brabant). The municipality ha ...

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who pioneered the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

mission in

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...

, especially Central Java. He baptized the first Javanese at Sendangsono, founded a school for teachers in Muntilan, and fought for the education of Javanese people during the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

colonial rule. He was renowned because of his ability to synchronize Roman Catholic teachings with that of Kejawen so that it could be accepted by the Javanese societies. Today in Eastern and Central java, Catholicism is a religion practised by quite a number of Javanese and people from the Chinese ethnic group.

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

, when giving a speech in

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta (; jv, ꦔꦪꦺꦴꦒꦾꦏꦂꦠ ; pey, Jogjakarta) is the capital city of Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by a monarchy, ...

on 10 October 1989, said that he stood on that day at the center of the Island of Java to commemorate those who had laid the foundations of the Catholic people, Father van Lith, SJ and two of his disciples, Mgr Soegijapranata and IJ Kasimo.

Biography

Van Lith arrived in Semarang in 1896 to study the culture and customs of

. He was placed in

Muntilan The Muntilan area is a district ( ''kecamatan'') in the Magelang Regency, Central Java. Muntilan is about 15 km south of Magelang, 10 km from Mungkid, 25 km north of Yogyakarta, and 90 km from the main town of Semarang located on the northern coast ...

in 1897. He stayed in Desa Semampir at the banks of River Lamat. On 14 December 1904, van Lith baptized 171 villagers from the region of Kalibawang in Sendangsono,

Kulon Progo Kulon Progo Regency ( jv, Kulon Praga, , ) is one of the four regencies within the Yogyakarta Special Region, Indonesia. It is located on the island of Java. The regency's name stems from the fact that it is situated to the west (in Javanese "ku ...

. This event is regarded as the birth of the Church among the Javanese when the 171 people become the first Javanese to embrace Catholicism. The location of the baptism is now the pilgrimage center Sendangsono.

Native education

In the small village of Semampir he built a school and a church. He also begun the building of the

school complex in Muntilan, starting with the " Normaalschool" in 1890, a school for teachers or " Kweekschool" in 1904 and then a school for head teachers in 1906. This school for teachers was open for all native Javanese, from all religions. It started with 107 students, 32 of whom are non-Catholics. In 1911 the Mertoyudan Seminary was officially founded, the first in Indonesia, built in part because some of the school's alumni wanted to become priests. One of them was Mgr A. Soegijapranata SJ (1896-1963), who would later become the Archbishop of Semarang, the first Indonesian native bishop. The small church and school at Semampir would then develop into a complex of buildings, which was named Kolese Franciscus Xaverius in 1911. In 1948, the school complex was burned. This education beginning in Muntilan would create Indonesian Catholic politicians, such as Kasimo,

Frans Seda Franciscus Xaverius Seda (4 October 1926 – 31 December 2009), popularly known as Frans Seda, was an Indonesian finance minister in the early days of Suharto's presidency. He also served as a minister during the final days of Indonesia's foundin ...

, amongst others. In Klaten, van Lith tried to establish a ''Hollands Inlandse School'' (HIS, a primary school for Indonesian children).. Initially the effort did not receive the permission of the Assistant Resident, because in Klaten there was already a Protestant HIS. Because of the refusal, Father van Lith proposed directly to the Resident of Surakarta (

Solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series * Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''S ...

). His proposal was accepted, and in 1920 HIS Kanisius Klaten was established and education activities started. Van Lith fought for the education of the native Javanese. He sent students to

universities and urged the

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to build colleges.

Politics

He was a member of the Education Council ("Onderwijsraad") in 1918. That year he was also elected as a member of the Commission for Hearing of the Statehood of the Dutch Indies (''Commissie tot Herziening van de Grondslagen der Staatsinrichting van Nederlandsch-Indië''). The commission was founded for the realization of the Dutch government's attempt to create the state rules of the Dutch Indies, which would involve both Dutch and natives. To the commission van Lith demanded a position for a native delegation in the "

Volksraad The Volksraad was a people's assembly or legislature in Dutch or Afrikaans speaking government. Assembly South Africa *Volksraad (South African Republic) (1840–1902) *Volksraad (Natalia Republic), a similar assembly that existed in the Natalia Re ...

". He was also recommended as member of the "Volksraad" (People's Council) by the Sarekat Islam Party, led by van Lith's close friend, K.H. Agus Salim. However, he was never elected to the People's Council. During his time as member of both the Education Council and the Commission for Hearing of the Statehood of the Dutch Indies, Romo van Lith fought for the causes of the native Indonesians, something which the Dutch government did not like. In 1920 van Lith returned to the Netherlands to tend for his faltering health. When he tried to return to Indonesia, he faced opposition from the Dutch government.

Return to Indonesia

In 1924 van Lith finally returned and chose to stay in Semarang, establishing a

Hollandsch-Inlandsche School Hollandsch-Inlandsche School (HIS) (Dutch school for natives) was a school during the Dutch colonial era in Indonesia. The school, was first established in 1914, following with the enactment of the Dutch Ethical Policy The Dutch Ethical Polic ...

(HIS) and a " Standaardschool" while teaching Jesuit

novice A novice is a person who has entered a religious order and is under probation, before taking vows. A ''novice'' can also refer to a person (or animal e.g. racehorse) who is entering a profession with no prior experience. Religion Buddhism ...

s. Van Lith died on 9 January 1926 in Semarang and was interred in the Jesuit cemetery in

References

* Leopold Maria van Rijckevorsel S.J., 1952, ''Pastoor F. van Lith S.J. : de stichter van de missie in Midden-Java, 1863-1926''. Nijmegen: Stichting St.Claverbond.

External links