A Catholic man in central Jakarta’s Parish of Christ the King launched a campaign for blood donations for a remote diocese in Indonesia.
The man known only as “Simon” told the Italian news site AsiaNews that donating blood to the Diocese of Agats is his “gesture of profound humanity.”
The diocese covers an area of 37,000 square kilometers and comprises the whole of Asmat district and a small part of Mappi district, both in Papua, Indonesia’s easternmost province.
Swamp and forest cover the diocesan territory where the Asmat, the area’s major ethnic group live in about 100 villages. The tribe was isolated from the outside world and almost untouched by civilization until the 1940s.
Simon said the campaign he initiated “is a humanitarian response to urgent situations that goes beyond borders and allows other lives to be saved.”
“As Catholics, we are all Veronica and Simon in contemplation before the suffering of Jesus,” said Simon.
He said he was inspired by the “Way of the Cross,” especially Veronica and Simon of Cyrene who tried to help the suffering Jesus.
The donation of blood, especially during Ramadan in the predominantly Muslim Indonesia, is “one of the most important gestures in the spirit of compassion,” said Simon.
During the Islamic holy month of prayer and fasting, blood supplies and donations to hospitals usually decline.
Simon’s initiative will last until May 22. About 50 people have already responded to his call for donation that started on May 4.
Trouble in Papua
Meanwhile, Indonesia has deployed 400 more soldiers in the easternmost region of Papua, an army spokesman said on Thursday, as an exiled separatist leader warned that the military looked set to launch its biggest security operation in the area in decades.
Last week, President Joko Widodo ordered a crackdown on separatists after an intelligence chief in Papua was shot dead in an ambush.
The battle-hardened 315/Garuda Battalion, whose soldiers got the nickname “Satan troops” after taking part in bloody conflicts in East Timor, are being brought in after a breakdown in dialogue with separatists, said army spokesman Brigadier General Prantara Santosa.
“They are only trained infantry troops, not special forces,” he said, without specifying where they would be sent and describing their deployment as a routine rotation.
The deployment to the region, where there has been a low-level insurgency for decades, comes after Indonesia recently designated armed Papuan separatists as “terrorists,” a move that activists said could boost the security response in the region. – with a report from Reuters
