Catholic Flores in Flores

Part of the Flores travel guide — see every topic in All Flores Guides.

Flores is around eighty-five per cent Catholic, which makes it one of the very few parts of Indonesia where that is true and gives the island a completely different texture from Java, Sumatra or even Bali. The name is Portuguese — from Cabo das Flores — and the religion arrived with Portuguese traders and Dominican missionaries in the sixteenth century, later reinforced by Dutch-era and twentieth-century Catholic missions. Churches stand in every village, statues appear at roadsides, and the calendar runs on saints' days.

How it got here

Portuguese traders reached the eastern islands in the sixteenth century in search of sandalwood, and Dominican missionaries followed, establishing a foothold at Larantuka and on Solor. The Dutch displaced the Portuguese commercially but the eastern end of Flores remained under Portuguese influence until 1859, when it was formally transferred. Catholic missions, largely the Society of the Divine Word from the early twentieth century, then built the schools, seminaries and clinics that made the church central to social life. Flores today supplies a disproportionate share of Indonesia's priests.

Semana Santa at Larantuka

At the island's eastern tip, Larantuka holds one of the most remarkable Holy Week observances in Asia, dating in some form to the Portuguese period. On Good Friday the town processes through the night carrying statues — including a revered image of the Virgin, Tuan Ma, kept in a chapel and unveiled only for this — along a candlelit route between chapels, with tens of thousands of pilgrims from across Indonesia. It is genuinely extraordinary, entirely religious rather than staged, and the town is full for a week.

The syncretic layer

What makes Flores interesting is that Catholicism sits on top of older practice rather than having replaced it. The megalithic ancestor shrines in the Ngada villages, the ceremonial roles of clan elders, the harvest rituals, the caci whip duels and the beliefs attached to Kelimutu's lakes all continue alongside the church, and frequently with it — a village will hold a Mass and a traditional ceremony in the same week. Local Catholicism has absorbed a good deal, and clergy in Flores generally take a pragmatic view of it.

For visitors

Practically, it means Sunday matters: shops close, roads fill with people walking to church in their best clothes, and drivers may want the morning off. It means alcohol is available and pork is on the menu, unlike most of Indonesia. It means Christmas and Easter are the major holidays rather than Idul Fitri. Visitors are welcome at Mass and it is a good way to see a village at its most sociable — dress modestly, sit at the back, and do not photograph the congregation.

Catholic Flores at a glance

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