After a long, bureaucratic process, the Santo Agustinus Pastoral Institute (STP) in Kubu Raya, West Kalimantan, experienced a historic moment on Thursday as it began operations as a government-run educational institution now named the Pontianak State Catholic Institute (STAKatN).

As the first ever state Catholic institute in Indonesia, STAKatN Pontianak is expected to play a significant role in supporting the spirit of unity in the diverse nation.

Speaking during the inauguration of the institute, Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin said religious education was important in maintaining the spirit of unity in Indonesia despite its enormous diversity. Hence, he hoped the inauguration of the state Catholic university could be immediately followed by the development of similar institutions in other areas across Indonesia.

“Religion is all about feeling. Hence, religion is not something to be debated in the public sphere, but a set of values we should implement in our daily lives,” said Lukman.

West Kalimantan Governor Cornelis and Pontianak Archbishop Agustinus Agus accompanied the religious affairs minister at the inauguration ceremony.

Former STP Santo Agustinus head Andreas Muhrotien said the institute, which opened in 2006, was previously a private institution, which initially aimed to provide a solution to the province’s shortage of Catholic religious education teachers.

“We have undertaken a long journey to become a state institute. Thank God we have reached our goal today. This is a historic moment, because this is the first Catholic state institute in Indonesia,” said Andreas.

In the last 10 years, STAKatN Pontianak has produced 1,250 bachelor graduates and 31 master’s graduates while 703 people have participated in a program to make their school degrees equal to bachelor degrees. Around 70 percent of its graduates have been recruited as non-permanent teachers of Catholic religious education in various schools across the province.

Citing West Pontianak Education Agency data, Agustinus said only 355 out of 1,222 state junior high schools across the province had Catholic religious education teachers.

From a total 4,341 state elementary schools in the province, only 1,603 have Catholic religious education teachers, while at state senior high schools, only 89 out of the total 378 schools do.

“I want to convey here that the local situation should also be taken into consideration in determining the quota of religious teachers, because each region cannot be compared with others. This province is very vast, and religious teachers do not only teach about religion but also act as leaders who give guidance based on faith [to their students],” said the Pontianak archbishop.

Lukman said the shortage of Catholic religious education teachers in West Kalimantan would be the main agenda item of a meeting held by the Religious Affairs Ministry next week. He acknowledged that the process to award STP Santo Agustinus the status of a state-run institute had taken a relatively long time. This was not only due to the long bureaucratic procedure but also problems at the local level that had hampered the process, he said.

“I previously felt guilty when I saw that all religions in our country except Catholics had state institutes. It made me quite concerned,” said Lukman.