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Vincentius Kirjito: Faith-inspired activist
His unwavering endeavor to motivate villagers on the slope of Mount Merapi, and his struggle for an improved grass-roots existence and nature conservation with local people, has earned him an honor
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is unwavering endeavor to motivate villagers on the slope of Mount Merapi, and his struggle for an improved grass-roots existence and nature conservation with local people, has earned him an honor.
JP/WENDRA AJISTYATAMA
He is Father Vincentius Kirjito (57), who received the 2010 Maarif Award recently for religiously inspiring activism in poverty alleviation and environmental protection.
From Sumber village, Magelang, Central Java, through Gerakan Masyarakat Cinta Air (GMCA), a movement for water resources, Romo (Father) Kir — as he is affectionately called — and the community living near Merapi, campaigned against environmental destruction. The pioneering role of the man born in Kulon Progo, Yogyakarta, on Nov. 18, 1953 managed to arouse collective awareness in opposing unregulated sand mining.
Realizing that sand and stone extraction had long been a source of living of Sumber villagers, Romo Kir in fact was not totally against their quarrying operation.
“I only reminded the local administration and community of the necessity to preserve agriculture and safeguard Merapi’s environment for future generations instead of merely pursuing short-term economic gains,” he said.
As an illustration, a group of sand diggers takes one day to load a truck with a capacity of 5 tons, whereas a backhoe does the same job within just 5-10 minutes. With hundreds of backhoes and thousands of trucks working round the clock, the mountain slope is thus stripped of thousands of tons of sand in a single day.
In Kirjito’s view, unless this sand excavation is halted, some day all agricultural land will turn into a sand mining field.
“Only 1 meter beneath the surface of fertile soil lies sand and stones for extraction to a depth of more than 50 meters. Now, with the miners’ attitude of taking advantage of the land before eventually neglecting it, what kind of environment are they handing down?” he queried.
Backed by locals, Romo Kir initiated cultural parades and art performances to protest the various kinds of environmental damage taking place. For instance, giant dances were staged to mock greedy businessmen. He mobilized socio-cultural forces to face the power of capital and greed.
Community participation with a pluralist religious basis became the key and at the same time the character of Romo Kir’s endeavor. He was able to use culture to bring residents together and fight the destruction of nature as well water resources on the slopes of Merapi.
The priest’s initiative finally made local authorities aware of depleting water stocks plaguing local residents. After residents of Grogol hamlet, Magelang, demanded sand exploitation be restricted, the government imposed a ban on the use of backhoes and further regulated the use of these machines.
The government policy felt like a dream come true. To express their gratitude, villagers held a cultural procession called an “earth thanksgiving”. Romo Kir also attempted to turn this event into a religious experience, asking residents to show their religious faith by expressing deep concern over ecological safety and its future.
The struggle for the rescue of Mt. Merapi’s ecosystem was also conducted through another approach. Kirjito introduced a live-in program called “Merapi Nature and Culture Oriented Education” in 2004. It was meant to nurture public affection for the area surrounding Mt. Merapi and strengthen local pluralism as a social asset. No less than 8,000 people visited the village west of Merapi and learned from its nature and culture.
Kirjito described the private sector’s exploitation of sand as city people not knowing how to return the good deeds of villages — the “mothers of cities”. To Kirjito, villagers have worked very hard with all their might and faith to provide food for their “children” alias “cities”, while also providing manual workers and talented human resources.
Sadly, according to Kirjito, cities and towns are devouring villages, paddy fields, fertile land, hills, mountain slopes and their forests as sources of food, clean air and water of the country. “So floods are threatening us every year. They are just mothers’ tears.”
A look further back indicates Romo Kir’s movement originated in the gathering of government officials, cultural experts, artists, volcanic academicians and spiritualists to honor the presence of Semarang Archbishop Monsignor Ign. Suharyo Pr in the Parish of St. Maria Lourdes, Sumber village, in 2001. The meeting was themed “Spiritual, Cultural and Merapi Ecological Dialogue”.
The media saw the Merapi Cultural Dialogue as an honest expression of local residents who opposed the overtly unfair exploitation of nature. Kirjito regarded such media publication as something to be proud of and raising the esteem of the Merapi slope community previously only reported during Merapi’s eruptions.
The Maarif Award he received, said Kirjito, was first of all for the Church of the Semarang Archdiocese.
“Without these people, I would have never been given the Maarif Award so it’s not a personal matter,” he stressed.
“The award is like a plane taking off. It won’t just stop in the air but will surely land to allow its passengers to safely disembark from their destination. So the award sends a good message to political, moral, intellectual and cultural leaders commonly called the elite to bring safety to many people.”
It is also a message to take on greater responsibilities. “In my case, I will continue to be engaged in clerical duties in society, among the members of the younger generation and children, particularly those who lose, are neglected and victimized. I will strive to express my clerical conscience with them.”
On various occasions, Romo Kir has reminded his congregation of the crucial importance of mingling with people of any background. By expressing the salvation values of religious faith through the wisdom of local communities, this clergyman shows the importance of humanitarian work based on genuine faith.
