For the Indonesian Catholic community, the Easter party has a mourning edge this year. « I had to cry, cry, cry. »

The news of the death of Pope Francis, which was announced only an hour and a half earlier, does not yet appear to have reached every visitor to the Easter party of the Indonesian community from the Netherlands and Belgium. Here and there groups are talking softly with each other. A woman hits her hand in front of her mouth.

And they had come here for something nice: the annual Eucharistic celebration that is through KKI Nederland-Belgium (Keluarga Katolik Indonesiaor Indonesian Catholic Community) this time is organized in the municipality of Amersfoort, in the Sint-Martinus church of Hoogland. On Easter Monday, each time at a different location, about five hundred Catholic Indonesians come together to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. After an extensive holy mass with prayers, choral singing and lectures, there is still an hour of indoor and outdoor program with artists, music and dance. And food: stalls with Indonesian delicacies are in front of the entrance to the church.

Mourning

But now the day is one with a mourning edge. « I read an app from my brother in Indonesia this morning that the pope had died, » says Lanny Liem (60) from Amersfoort, came to the Netherlands from Surabaja in 1983. She is one of the hostesses on this celebration, stabbed in a beautiful old pink shiny robe, red flower in the black hair. « I immediately had to cry, cry, cry. Then I prayed: do I have to continue with this celebration now? But I got on: just doing it, it means a lot for a lot of people. So I came. But I was a little later. »

She points to an altaartje overloaded with flowers in a chapel in the church and the many candles that burn there. « This is all for Pope Francis. There is only more to it. Not only Indonesians put something down here, but also Dutch people from the neighborhood who come in. »

It is actually a very cheerful meeting. The death suddenly came in between

This is apparent when Ineke and Johan ten Kate, both 80 years old, come to light a candle in the chapel. « We live in Amersfoort, this is our church, » says Ineke. When she heard of the death of the pope, she felt « a lot of emotion. » Of course they had also seen how bad he was, yesterday, when the Easter blessing, it Urbi et Orbi. « How long it will last, we said to each other, » adds Johan. Yet they were « shocked this morning » by the news.

Easter

Despite the sad news of this morning, the atmosphere in and around the pews is not printed in the following hours. There is sometimes even laughter. The service is declining the fixed program in accordance with the theme of this Eucharistic celebration: « The Lord has really risen: proclaim it! » And that includes cheerful songs, and sermons about promise, resurrection, eternal life, the happiness of immortality and – thus – celebrating the Easter festival, « the feast of eternal joy. » A large part of the speeches and prayers is in Indonesian. A full church sings with the Lord’s Prayer in the mother’s tongue, Bapa Kami In this case.

« This is actually a very cheerful meeting, » agrees Raymond Hutting (45), who, together with his partner Natalia Ekaputri (44), has the logistics of this event under his care. « The death suddenly came in between, and of course we are going to think about that a number of times today. But it also remains a celebration. » The Easter celebration in Hoogland can boast a number of important guests, such as the auxiliary bishop of the diocese of Utrecht Mgr. Herman Woorts, eight priests coming from Indonesia and the deputy Indonesian ambassador. Hutting: « The pope was always brave. His spirit, his spirit, his fire remains in us to continue as Indonesian believers in the Netherlands. I am sure that the pope is proud of us because we still have the faith, the fire in us. »

Normal man

Jeroen Claase (51) from Utrecht is here with his father Willy (82). Jeroen: « My father is from Indonesia and is demented, I take care of him. It’s nice to be here. » He thinks with warmth back to Francis: « The great thing about this pope was his inclusiveness. All the contacts he made, with all those other churches, that was unprecedented – he opened the door. »

At the end of the service, a few visitors are waiting on a bench next to the toilets in the back of the Grote Kerk. Willie Old Bolhaar (77) is here with his wife Dian and comes from Enschede. He likes to talk about Francis: « I have great admiration for him. A simple man who does not like adornment. » Agnes van der Lee (58) from Deil, originally East Java: « It was a normal person. He wore a normal watch, did not have to be a nice car, did not sleep in the Vatican. This pope was different. »

After the service, a few nuns are chatting together. Sister Xavera (52) lives in a monastery in Sint-Niklaas in Belgium. She misses Francis, she says softly. « It was so beautiful that he asked attention for poor people. He wanted peace, whether it was about religions, cultures, countries, backgrounds – peace in life. This party is beautiful, but it feels double. It is just difficult. »

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