Western Australia Indonesian Catholic Community (WAICC) is a lay private association of Christ’s faithful people in accordance with the spirit of Christifideles Laici, the Post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation of the late John Paul II, on vocation and the mission of the lay faithful. Hence its identity and role is determined by Canon’s 321 – 329.
WAICC was founded in 29th November 1992 with the initial intention to:
- Lay a firm foundation for the unification of the Indonesian Catholics within the Archdiocese of Perth
- Deepen and strengthen the Catholic faith amongst members
- Maintain and bear mutual respect to each others’ customs and traditions so they can be introduced to the local community in Australia
- Provide some understanding of the local culture to the new comers and to introduce them to the local parish
It started with as little as 45 families, but it has grown to over 500 listed today with the major jump in the late 90’s. Since there was more and more Indonesian Catholics coming to Perth with more than half having a language barrier in this English-speaking country, the need to have a ‘place’ to accommodate their spiritual as well social needs with an Indonesian atmosphere became more profound. WAICC has therefore been acting as a bridge to minimize the impact of cultural shock. Providing native Indonesian priests since 2000 was one of its key initiatives.
After having regular activities, including the Sunday mass in Indonesian which for some members has becoming an event to long for, the bylaw of the organisation was acknowledged by The Grace Archbishop Barry J. Hickey on 12 August 2003. A clear vision of the organisation was then formalised and launched on its 15th anniversary. The vision is: Becoming Christ’s disciples through the Catholic Church by living and enhancing a harmonic, dynamic, prophetic, and missionaric community.
To address the growing number of members, the members are now divided geographically into 6 regions instead of initial of 3 regions: 2 north of the Swan River and 4 in south as most of the members live in the south of the river. Each region has an administrator who oversees the membership and coordinates pastoral care with the rest of the committee. Activities are informally reported monthly in its pulsating newsletter, SHINE – an abbreviation of something along the line of the voice energetic Christian faith, which has been consistently released since 2006.
Not just the number, the number of activities has also escalated in the late 2000s. The youth groups, ICYO (Indonesian Catholic Youth Organisation) and the young charismatic also known as TOM (Turrist Orationist Ministry), are quite popular amongst the youths in Perth Archdiocese due to its fabulous choir and heavy involvement in CIC ()respectively. Its RCIA is also considered productive provided WAICC is not a parish. The growth is encouraging; every year there are 3-5 catechumens receiving Sacrament of Initiation and 5-10 members getting Sacrament of Confirmation. WAICC also has a devotional coordinator who oversees devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and biweekly cenacles. The charismatic group is another example of this vibrant organisation by having periodic meetings which now become a weekly event.
Reaching the end of its “teenage” era, WAICC was given a new challenge by the Archbishop. During his his homily on WAICC 19th anniversary, the Archbishop encouraged the congregation to implement the behaviour inside the church in our day to day activities and thus substantiate Christian way of life. In a way, this jives with one of the WAICC’s visions: evangelisation; spreading the good news outside of the comfort zone.
