Between empowerment and power: the rise of the self-supporting church in Western Flores, eastern Indonesia

This article explores how ideas about empowerment often end up being manipulated by those in power, its implications, and what effect this has had on the trajectory of the Catholic Church in the western part of Flores during this period of revival, empowerment, and indigenization. What many have ref...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sojourn
Main Author: Erb, Maribeth (Author)
Format: Print Article
Language:English
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Published: Institution 2006
In: Sojourn
Further subjects:B Church
B Socio-cultural change
B Indonesia Flores (Island) Manggarai Catholic church Empowerment Indigenisierung Gesellschaftliche Prozesse Money Power Religious organization Hierarchy Structure of Socio-cultural change Christliche Kirche Catholicism
B Empowerment
B Money
B Hierarchy
B Structure of
B Development
B Catholicism
B Cultural change
B Society
B Religious organization
B Power
B Catholic school
B Indigenous peoples
B Indonesia
Description
Summary:This article explores how ideas about empowerment often end up being manipulated by those in power, its implications, and what effect this has had on the trajectory of the Catholic Church in the western part of Flores during this period of revival, empowerment, and indigenization. What many have referred to as a decentralization of money politics into the provincial regions during the regional autonomy era seems to have reinforced an increasing emphasis on money in power configurations; this has occurred not only in local political dealings, but also in the church hierarchy. Against the wider historical background of the Catholic Church in Western Flores, particularly the rise of the self-supporting Church in the Manggaraian Diocese, this article examines developments of indigenizing and empowering the local Catholic community. The suggestion is that the conflicts in the Manggaraian Church reflect strains that have existed historically in the structure of the Catholic Church and represent tension within the Church between struggles for power over the community and efforts to empower the community. (Sojourn/GIGA)
ISSN:0217-9520
Contains:In: Sojourn