Spirituality in diversity. South East Asia meets South Africa - Towards a Global View of Spiritual Counselling

Edited by: Ulrike Elsdörfer South East Asia meets South Africa Towards a Global View of Spiritual Counselling Spirituality in Diversity South East Asia meets South Africa Towards a global view of Spiritual Counselling Published by AOSIS (Pty) Ltd, 15 Oxford Street, Durbanville 7550, Cape Town, South Africa Postnet Suite #110, Private Bag X19, Durbanville 7551, South Africa Tel: +27 21 975 2602 Fax: +27 21 975 4635 Email: info@aosis.co.za Website: https://www.aosis.co.za Copyright © Ulrike Elsdörfer. Licensee: AOSIS (Pty) Ltd The moral right of the author has been asserted. Cover image: Original design created with the use of two images. The fern blurred background, https://pixabay.com/photos/fern-blurred-background-abstract-3200411/ as well as the light night light salt crystals https://pixabay.com/photos/light-night-light-saltcrystals-1555649/ also an original image, is released under the Pixabay License which is free for commercial use and no attribution is required. ISBN: 978-1-928396-98-7 (Print) ISBN: 978-1-928396-99-4 (Ebook) ISBN: 978-1-928523-00-0 (PDF) DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/aosis.2019.BK156 How to cite this work: Elsdörfer, U., 2019, Spirituality in diversity: South East Asia meets South Africa Towards a global view of Spiritual Counselling, 2nd edn., pp. i-207, AOSIS, Cape Town. Printed and bound in South Africa. Listed in OAPEN (http://www.oapen.org), DOAB (http://www.doabooks.org/) and indexed by Google Scholar. Some rights reserved. This is an open access publication. Except where otherwise noted, this work is distributed under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), a copy of which is available at https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/. 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Should any infringement have occurred inadvertently, the publisher apologises and undertakes to amend the omission in the event of a reprint. Spirituality in Diversity South East Asia meets South Africa Towards a global view of Spiritual Counselling Ulrike Elsdörfer Religious Studies domain editorial board at AOSIS Chief Editor Andries van Aarde, Post Retirement Professor in the Dean’s Office, Faculty of Theology, University of Pretoria, South Africa Board Members Warren Carter, Professor of New Testament, Brite Divinity School, Fort Worth, United States Christian Danz, Dekan der Evangelisch-Theologischen Fakultät der Universität Wien and Ordentlicher Universität professor für Systematische Theologie und Religionswissenschaft, University of Vienna, Austria Pieter G.R. de Villiers, Associate Editor, Extraordinary Professor in Biblical Spirituality, Faculty of Theology, University of the Free State, South Africa Musa W. Dube, Department of Theology & Religious Studies, Faculty of Humanities, University of Botswana, Botswana David D. Grafton, Professor of Islamic Studies and Christian–Muslim Relations, Duncan Black Macdonald Center for the Study of Islam and Christian–Muslim Relations, Hartford Seminary, Hartford, Connecticut, United States Jens Herzer, Theologische Fakultät der Universität Leipzig, Germany Jeanne Hoeft, Dean of Students and Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology and Pastoral Care, Saint Paul School of Theology, Leawood, KA, United States of America Dirk J. Human, Associate Editor, Deputy Dean and Professor of Old Testament Studies, Faculty of Theology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa D. Andrew Kille, Former Chair of the SBL Psychology and Bible Section, and Editor of the Bible Workbench, San Jose, United States William R.G. Loader, Emeritus Professor, Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia Isabel A. Phiri, Associate General Secretary for Public Witness and Diakonia, World Council of Churches, Geneva, Switzerland Marcel Sarot, Emeritus Professor of Fundamental Theology, Tilburg School of Catholic Theology, Tilburg University, Tilburg, Netherlands Corneliu C. Simut, Professor of Historical and Dogmatic Theology, Emanuel University, Oradea, Bihor, Romania Rothney S. Tshaka, Professor and Head of Department of Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa Elaine M. Wainwright, Emeritus Professor, School of Theology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand; Executive Leader, Mission and Ministry, McAuley Centre, Australia Gerald West, Associate Editor, School of Religion, Philosophy and Classics in the College of Humanities, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa Peer Review Declaration The publisher (AOSIS) endorses the South African ‘National Scholarly Book Publishers Forum Best Practice for Peer Review of Scholarly Books’. The manuscript was subjected to a rigorous two-step peer review process prior to publication, with the identities of the reviewers not revealed to the author(s). The reviewers were independent of the publisher and/or authors in question. The reviewers commented positively on the scholarly merits of the manuscript and recommended that the manuscript should be published. Where the reviewers recommended revision and/or improvements to the manuscript, the authors responded adequately to such recommendations. Research Justification The purpose of this book is to introduce the unique phenomenon of Spiritual Counselling, as it is practised by Christians in South East Asian countries in the last 50 years. I also refer to the current theory and practice of Spiritual Care and Counselling, especially as a practice of Christian churches in different countries, predominantly in Indonesia. In my previous work, I noticed a lack of knowledge on the above-mentioned field, at least in the European context, but also globally. I am part of an academic exchange on the subject of Spiritual Counselling between the two regions I describe. These include Indonesia (India and Japan attached) and South Africa. The latter is looked at with special regard to Spiritual and/or Pastoral Counselling. My theological frame of reference is Public Theology. It lays foundations, it explores, and it designs the social implications of religious work, especially in multi-religious societies. My book does not aim at giving a perfect survey of the current state of research in the field. It is based on encounters with colleagues, interviews and documents. I prepared my research during my visits to universities, social institutions, conferences and scholars in the field in India, Japan and Indonesia, during the last 10 years. I give an overview of the results of these regional meetings and experiences in practical and academic respects. I portray the Indonesian society in some aspects of its history and in its current development. The target audience of this book are scholars of Pastoral and/ or Spiritual Care and Counselling, Practical Theology, Psychology and Social and Cultural Anthropology. I hope it will be of interest to most different geographical regions, as the approach to intercultural counselling is increasing globally. I hope to attract South African scholars to develop the interreligious aspects of their research. I wish to give my Indonesian colleagues an impulse to view their theory and practice in the various fields for a crosscontinental discourse. This book is a substantially revised second edition of the 2018 book, entitled Spiritual Encounter in Diversity: Focussing Spiritual Counselling in Asia, selfpublished online. The revision represents a more than 75% reworking. No part of the book was plagiarised from another publication. In the appendix, I present reports as well as an article of researchers with whom I have worked as well as myself, with consent from all authors to publish their text in this book. Dr Ulrike Elsdörfer, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Pastoralpsychologie (DGfP) [German Association of Pastoral Psychology] Dortmund, Germany; and Unit for Reformed Theology and the Development of the South African Society, Faculty of Theology, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa Contents Abbreviations Appearing in the Text and Notes Biographical Note Acknowledgements Preface Introduction: Spiritual Counselling in a global perspective xi xiii xv xvii 1 Part One Chapter 1: Pastoral and/or Spiritual Care and Counselling in South East Asia Countries and regions Conferences and institutions Philippines India Japan Chapter 2: Indonesia History Pancasila state Pancasila religions Ministry of Religious Affairs Islam Christianity Buddhism Hinduism Indigenous religions Coexistence of religions 15 15 16 17 18 21 25 25 29 33 34 35 37 39 40 41 42 vii Contents Chapter 3: Christian spirituality in Indonesia The hidden beauty of (men and) women in vulnerable conditions Christian churches and their social functions Christian and indigenous: Churches and Adat tradition Franciscus van Lith, a Jesuit in Java Reconciliation processes after violence Chapter 4: Transformations in Asia’s spirituality and Spiritual Counselling Spiritual counselling in Indonesia Clinical Pastoral Education in the 1990s Clinical Pastoral Education training for supervisors, completed in 2017 Indigenous counselling Environmental counselling in Indonesia Overcoming violence The hidden history of violence Promoting the cause of pluralism and democracy Multi-religious encounter is crucial for Spiritual Counselling The social impact of Sufi tradition The conservative turn of Islam Chapter 5: Recent developments of Spiritual Care in Japan Narrative hermeneutical care: Christian and Buddhist approach General theory of Spiritual Counselling 45 45 49 51 53 55 61 68 69 74 81 82 84 85 87 89 90 93 97 98 101 Part Two Chapter 6: Public Theology and public pastoral care in (South) Africa Public Theology as a frame of reference for Spiritual Counselling: A ministry of presence and compassion viii 105 108 Contents Postcolonial theology Public Theology in Africa: Pros and cons Chapter 7: Interreligious Asian Public Theology meets (South) African Public Theology God is rice – God is in the encounter – God is in the future Asian Spiritual Counselling meets (South) African Spiritual and/or Pastoral Counselling God is in the limitation God is in compassion and compassion fatigue God is in-between 113 116 121 128 131 132 134 135 Chapter 8: Transformations of Spiritual Counselling in multiple modernities 137 Chapter 9: Towards a frame of diversity in spirituality and Spiritual Care and Counselling 145 Appendices Appendix 1: Documents from mid-point and end-point evaluation during a Clinical Pastoral Education training 151 Mercy Anna Saragih Appendix 2: Towards the International Congress on Pastoral Care and Counselling (11th ICPCC Congress in Malaysia 2019) 159 Ulrike Elsdörfer Appendix 3: Challenges to ICPCC pastoral and spiritual policy: From the private consultation of the counselling room to the open and public space of marketplace encounters 167 Daniel J. Louw ix Contents Appendix 4: Resilience of faith communities on the Cape Flats (South Africa) – Lessons in congregational ministry and care 173 Llewellyn MacMaster References 195 Index 203 x Abbreviations Appearing in the Text and Notes AACPE ANC APCPCC CF CPE ICAHS ICPCC IDP IS IT MORA MUI NGO NP NU PASCH PhD PMC SAPS SIPCC UK US UTC YAKKUM Asia Association for Clinical Pastoral Education African National Congress Asian Pacific Conference on Pastoral Care and Counselling Compassion Fatigue Clinical Pastoral Education Indonesian Christian Association for Health Services International Council on Pastoral Care and Counselling Internal displaced persons Islamic State Information Technology Ministry of Religious Affairs Majelis Ulama Indonesia Non-governmental Organisation National Party Nahdatul Ulama Professional Association of Spiritual Care and Health Philosophical Dissertation Proudly Manenberg Campaign South African Police Services Society for Intercultural Pastoral Care and Counselling United Kingdom United States United Theological College Christian Foundation for Public Health xi Biographical Note Ulrike Elsdörfer Deutsche Gesellschaft für Pastoralpsychologie (DGfP) [German Association of Pastoral Psychology], Dortmund, Germany; Unit for Reformed Theology and the Development of the South African Society, Faculty of Theology, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa. Email: interculture@email.gmx ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9982-5867 Dr Ulrike Elsdörfer is the supervisor of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Pastoralpsychologie (DGfP) [German Association of Pastoral Psychology], as well as an Extraordinary Researcher at NorthWest University, Potchefstroom, South Africa. xiii Acknowledgements This revised second edition of the 2018 book entitled Spiritual Encounter in Diversity: Focussing Spiritual Counselling in Asia, self-published online, draws largely from the author’s PhD thesis, written in German and published by LIT Verlag: • Elsdörfer, U., 2019, ‘Gott ist Reis: Psychologische Assistenz im multikulturellen und multireligiösen Indonesien und im südostasiatischen Raum’, in Pastoral Care and Spiritual Healing Spiritualität interkulturell Volume 7, LIT Verlag, Münster. This book offers a more than 50% reworking and carries the necessary permissions from the publisher of the thesis for parts thereof to have been translated and published in this book. Appendices The following documents used in the Appendices have been used in this book with the necessary permissions from the authors and/or publishers: • Appendix 1: Saragih, M.A., n.d., ‘Documents from mid-point and end-point evaluation during a Clinical Pastoral Education training’, n.p. (unpublished paper received via email communication, on 05 May 2017) • Appendix 2: Elsdörfer, U., 2016, ‘Chances and Challenges of Solidarity: ICPCC from post-colonialism to global challenges’, in U. Elsdörfer & T.D. Ito (eds.), Compassion for one another in the Global Village, LIT Verlag, Berlin. • Appendix 3: Louw, D., 2012, ‘Challenges to ICPCC pastoral and spiritual policy: from the private consultation of the counselling room xv Acknowledgements to the open and public space of market place encounters‘, in D. Louw, T.D. Ito & U. Elsdörfer (eds.), Encounter in Pastoral Care and Spiritual Healing, LIT Verlag, Berlin. • Appendix 4: MacMaster, L., 2009b, ‘Resilience of faith communities on the Cape Flats (SA): A pastoral theological perspective’, Scriptura 101(2009), 288–300. https://doi.org/10.7833/101-0-640 xvi Preface As a Protestant theologian, pastoral psychologist and religious scientist, I am experienced in encounters with researchers and practitioners of pastoral psychology worldwide – mostly with Protestant counsellors and theologians and with universities and practical units in Asia, Africa and South America. Until now, it was comfortable for me to continue with my own traditions. This study, in many respects, represents a transition to the Other. It provides the contents of my second Philosophical Dissertation (PhD) at the Philosophical-Theological University St. Georgen, Frankfurt, Main, Germany. The research was originally written in German. I have improved from the ecumenical learning and exchange, and I thank Prof. Dr Dr Dr h.c. Klaus Kießling, Frankfurt, Main and Prof. Dr Heribert Wahl, München for their friendly support. During my previous work as a lecturer of Interreligious Dialogue of Christianity and Islam at the Goethe University, Frankfurt, Main, Germany, I have already cooperated with the Christlich-Islamische Begegnungs- und Dokumentationsstelle and the St. Georgen’s department on studies concerning the encounter of Christian theology with Islam. Indonesia is my country of focus in Asia. Majority of its citizens are Muslim, although the constitution of the country is based on interreligious diversity. Here, I include results from earlier research in the field. My study is related to my practical work as a member of the board of the International Council on Pastoral Care and Counselling (ICPCC), a network of researchers and practitioners How to cite: Elsdörfer, U., 2019, ‘Preface’, in Spirituality in diversity: South East Asia meets South Africa Towards a global view of Spiritual Counselling, 2nd edn., pp. xvii–xviii, AOSIS, Cape Town. https://doi.org/10.4102/aosis.2019.BK156.0p xvii Preface of Spiritual Counselling. In the appendix, I give my preview to the 11th Congress of ICPCC in Malacca, Malaysia, in 2019. I am grateful to North-West University, South Africa, especially to the Unit for Reformational Theology and the Development of the SA Society and its director, Prof. Ferdi Kruger, Th.D., for the support of my publication in English. I thank Prof. Vhumani Magezi, PhD, who invited and encouraged me to work as an Extraordinary Researcher at North-West University, Potchefstroom. This exchange across continents provides an exciting challenge. I am looking forward to further impetus from the encounter with European and African psychological studies, spirituality and theology. I thank my daughter, Claudia Elsdörfer, and my son, Matthias Elsdörfer, for re-reading my English text for this revised second edition of the 2018 self-published book, entitled Spiritual Encounter in Diversity: Focussing Spiritual Counselling in Asia (Elsdörfer 2018). Both have obtained a Magister Artium in linguistic sciences, having specialised in English and American studies. xviii Introduction Spiritual Counselling in a global perspective Readers who may expect to get good advice about the use of psychology in transcultural and interreligious settings may be disappointed by this book. This study introduces the results or even the beginnings of an encounter of Christians and members of other religions from two continents and from two regions of the world when facing their approaches to counselling as spirituality. Having examined it, some of the scholars in the field of Spiritual Counselling obtain a global perspective on their discussed item. Some remain sceptical regarding the psychological and cultural impacts on life in indigenous worlds. Patience and sensitivity and the leading goal of empowerment should exceed the wish to generalise. A global perspective on a sensitive subject requires a thoroughly proven and differentiated theory and practice. It is based on a manifold of intercultural encounters in global settings. Here, I start with my reports and reflections about partial worlds. How to cite: Elsdörfer, U., 2019, ‘Spiritual Counselling in a global perspective’, in Spirituality in diversity: South East Asia meets South Africa Towards a global view of Spiritual Counselling, 2nd edn., pp. 1–12, AOSIS, Cape Town. https://doi.org/10.4102/aosis.2019. BK156.00 1 Spiritual Counselling in a global perspective The two regions of the globe, namely, South East Asia and (South) Africa, share common characteristics, especially those of manifold aspects of diversity within their societies. The first part of this ecumenical study includes a discussion of the emergence and the development of Spiritual Counselling in different South East Asian countries. Spiritual Counselling in this context focusses on the work of different Christian churches in the multi-religious societies of the region. In this part of the world, Christians belong to minorities in their populations. The amount and importance of those minorities for their societies vary across countries. My first step is to remember the beginning of my own studies. I start with a citation of a text written by my colleague Nalini Arles1 from India. She especially highlights social aspects of South East Asian societies, introducing her personal approach, Regarding India’s rich spirituality: how can I define myself in it as a Dalit and as a woman?2 The impetus of Arles’ lecture on ‘Spirituality and culture in the practice of pastoral care and counselling’ places the spotlight on the way of understanding spirituality in Asian countries. Here, spirituality represents more than an inner value. Furthermore, spirituality must be interpreted in its social context. In her lecture, Arles reflects on the basics of counselling and social projects conducted by Christians (and members of other religions as well) in India: Regarding the context of rich religious traditions in India, I do not know exactly, which form of spirituality I shall take into account. Searching for my special access I have to admit: There are many religious traditions in India, and many are connected with a history of conquer. Conquering spirituality meets marginalizing spirituality.3 1. Nalini Arles was professor of Pastoral Psychology at the United Theological College in Bangalore, India. 2. Arles (1999:2). 3. Arles (1999:n.p.). 2 Introduction The mutual relation between a conquering and a marginalising spirituality exists not only in India but in the whole of South East Asia as well. The organisations and their projects mentioned here in my ecumenical study imply practising Christians’ spirituality or various forms of existing cooperation of Christians with members of other religions. Concerning crisis intervention or emergency aid, the work of various groups is presented. The groups belong to different religions; this is especially important with regard to the emerging education of volunteers (i.e. Christians and Buddhists in Japan) in crisis prevention and relief in instances of tsunamis, typhoons, earthquakes and other catastrophes that affected the region.4 My study includes the years from 1980 up to 2017. The main reason for the said study period is the founding of the Asian Pacific Conference on Pastoral Care and Counselling (APCPCC) in 1980. At first, under a different name, this association invited its members for a meeting every Second year, and later every fourth – the last meeting was held in September 2017 at Jakarta in Indonesia. The first conference on Pastoral Care and Counselling in Asia was held in Manila in 1982. A history of informal meetings meant to introduce this method-based Spiritual Counselling, imported from the United States of America (USA) into South East Asia, dates back to the 1960s. Outstanding impulses for a therapeutic Spiritual Counselling in Asian contexts result from a lecture with the title ‘Formation and transformation – discovery and recovery – of spirit and soul– religion in crisis and custom’ given by the pastoral psychologist Robert Charles Powell5 in Hong Kong in 2005. With the title of ‘Religion in crisis and custom’ (religion as a spiritual aid in culturally unstable times or religion as culturally preserving tradition), Powell refers to the title of one of the books 4. See Arles 1999. 5. Powell (2005). 3 Spiritual Counselling in a global perspective by Anton T. Boisen,6 first published in 1923. In the USA, Boisen is regarded as the most important founder of the established Christian and interreligious movements of Pastoral Care and Counselling, which later spread worldwide. Care and counselling and social work as a result of a vivid spirituality cannot be reduced to the sources of the American Pastoral Care and Counselling movement, as this would mean excluding many other important Christian spiritual traditions, for example, concepts of Catholic orders. There is no reason to question different forms of spirituality in this study. Psychology-based Care and Counselling found its way into the Catholic Church and to different Protestant churches and their practice in Asia. Care and counselling concepts are used in Japan by Christians and Buddhists, and in Indonesia and Malaysia by Christians and Muslims. When discussing Spiritual Counselling, I refer to the practice and education in Pastoral Care and Counselling in worldwide Christianity. I concentrate on this aspect, although the interreligious perspective will be included from time to time. There exist some connections to interreligious efforts and goals in the field. Christian practice is based on different theological sources. Pastoral Care and Counselling belongs to the social practice representing the Christian religion in different regions. One aspect that is predominant in all regions is that the members of the Christian churches in almost all of the here mentioned countries belong to a religious, sometimes political and ethnic minority. This fact unites all the different churches. And, it made me curious to understand how they deal with this minority status in their unique situations. Psychosocial projects in Asia are often implemented in special emergency situations with meagre financial resources. 6. Anton T. Boisen first published his book in 1923 in the USA. With this publication and The Exploration of the Inner World in 1936, he provoked a discussion on the relation of psychotherapy and religion(s). With the CPE method, the foundation was laid for the American Pastoral Care and Counselling movement. It spread from the USA to other countries like India, Indonesia, Japan and the Philippines – as far as it concerns Asia. Clinical Pastoral Education differentiated according to local standards. 4 Introduction Cultural differences between the countries, ethnic diversity and religious traditions have to be thoroughly probed, with great awareness of the individual cases. The cultural and religious diversity should be considered when developing a concept of Spiritual Counselling in the social work of the churches. Indigenous aspects of ethnic groups, subjects of environment and regional concepts of Practical Theology have to be considered, studying the different situations of the societies. Spiritual Counselling in Asia represents a form of Christian engagement in public life, referring to the theories of Public Theology. This is my personal conviction, which I will unfold in this study. When the psychological approach to clients by professional counsellors in the churches of Indonesia is mentioned, I prefer to use the term Spiritual Counselling. Indonesian theologians deem this to be the appropriate term when referring to the diversity of religious practice in their country. I do not refer to Christian Counselling, as this is currently the term used by evangelical and Pentecostal Christians in Indonesia. I mainly cooperate with colleagues who have had a theological education from Indonesian theological universities or from universities in extended regions of Asia. Some colleagues have studied in Europe, Australia or the USA. They know and share the global standards of scientific discussions in theology and in the related sciences. Besides that, they have a profound knowledge of their own churches and a distinct view of their own society. As a preliminary text, I present a publication from the South East Asian context. Importantly, in this text, Spiritual Care is not reduced to an individual view. On the contrary, it aims at an interrelational exchange, which leads away from a solitary encounter between two persons, mostly a professional and a layperson, a counsellor or a client. Joseph George,7 pastoral psychologist at the United Theological College (UTC) of South India, Bangalore, underlines the importance 7. George (2010), in a lecture from the 18th International Seminar of SIPCC. Dr Joseph George was the then-president of the Indian Association of Pastoral Counsellors. 5 Spiritual Counselling in a global perspective of contextual realities, especially in his region. In his view, many of the current societies include multi-religious, multi-ethnic, multilinguistic, multi-cultural identities. The challenge resulting from that fact exceeds the fundamental problem once raised by Boisen and others in the USA. George cites manifold aspects, describing the contextual realities for persons in modern, mainly urban South East Asian regions. The long historical traditions – defined by family structures, kinship relations, regional communities or religious structures – remind of the existence of structures that could nourish the individuals emotionally, that could protect them and give them therapeutic aid. This kinship-based emotional support was mostly practised alongside ethnic relations and religions. But in recent times, those powers in society that aim for individualism, for mobility and for effectiveness leave many people behind both emotionally and intellectually. Such a development leads to the erosion of the old structures and to misorientation in daily life – up to violence. Globalisation implies an encounter of cultures under the conditions of worldwide economic change, and it is in manifold aspects a very complex process. The exclusion of people with few chances of personal and social development, and the opportunities that these provide, leads to negative feelings. By this, emotional refugees will be created, according to George. In addition, South East Asia has disturbing experiences of environmental catastrophes. Natural and commercial reasons give rise to catastrophes that erode and destroy the global community – these events result in insecurities in dealing with suffering, with disorientation and with losses. And one of the fundamental emotions expressed in the modern world is – according to the analysis of various comments used by George – helplessness. This fact is not only important with regard to indigenous worlds but also in the Western world since 2001. Terrorism has emerged worldwide. However, India was acquainted with terror attacks long before 2001. As George indicated, religious fanaticism, violence and terrorism have already ravaged his country for several decades, and their influence still persists. 6 Introduction With these facts, the colonial paradigm used by Arles is extended to the intercultural and postcolonial paradigm, thereby implying aspects of race and gender, caste, class, and raising questions concerning poverty and social justice, overcoming structural, open or potential violence. Spiritual Counselling and Spiritual Care lie between individual approaches to suffering people and to the awareness of the social conditions that tend to form and deform them. Transformation is necessary. This is explained using the term ‘Strategic Analytical Pastoral Therapy’.8 Together with analytical potential and social strategies, therapy is leading the individual or group to broader capabilities. It strengthens the awareness of contexts and the ability to grow from a therapeutical community to a community of care.9 I had the chance to visit Jakarta, Indonesia in September 2017. During a second study term (2011–2014), I studied ethnology at the Goethe University Frankfurt, Main, with the focus on parts of Africa and Indonesia. Here, I rely on my knowledge to give a broader description of Indonesia as a political and cultural entity. I discuss different approaches to Spiritual Counselling in Africa and Indonesia. Information about a general theory of Spiritual Counselling, which is rooted in a Japanese researcher’s scientific approach, completes my survey. My studies of the field led me to the conclusion that a general theory of Spiritual Counselling should be replaced by a general view on Spiritual Counselling, as it is practised globally, but with regional standards and ethnic and culturally different backgrounds. These should be considered and appreciated in any case. Shmuel Eisenstadt’s concept of multiple modernities10 provides the background. It is important to acknowledge crucial differences of culture and regional developments, not only for individuals but also for broader societies. Only this can offer a glimpse of 8. The method behind the title is only roughly defined by George. 9. This text comprises the most important ideas of Joseph George’s article. 10. Eisenstadt (2007). 7 Spiritual Counselling in a global perspective justice when dealing with the often unjust economic effects of globalisation. The second part of the study focusses on Spiritual Counselling as part of Public Theology, mainly in Africa. Here, Christianity is predominant among the local religions, and it is culturally influential. Spiritual Counselling as a part of the churches’ engagement in societies implies challenges being quite different from those within the multi-religious Asian societies. South Africa already had a reflected practice of Pastoral Care and Counselling before and after the millennium. The growing opposition against apartheid implied the development of a vivid scene of counselling activities within the churches. There is a demand for a special sensitivity when counselling persons who are affected by HlV.11 Besides the practical and individual assistance, counsellors regard their work as a contribution to the resistance against the stigmatisation of HlV-positive persons. The second objective pastoral psychologists try to promote is the development of social justice in South Africa. A still existing marginalisation of poor and people of mixed race prevails in the political arena. This injustice has not been abolished appropriately. The counselling movement is included in the theological reflections on Public Theology. The concept behind Public Theology is to analyse aspects of society which create injustice and life-threatening conditions, and to confront them with theological impulses for a better future for God’s creation. The churches’ theological and practical work is dedicated to being of relevance to the development of society. The former so-called privatisation of faith should be overcome by aiming for an understanding of the wholeness of body, soul and social existence of a person. Action for safety and health – mentally, physically, spiritually – should prevail in private life. Nobody can preserve their physical and psychological well-being and economic survival for only private and individual reasons. Family and the wider 11. Vhumani Magezi, professor at North-West University, South Africa – several publications. 8 Introduction community are of singular importance, especially in the African context. After the fall of apartheid, the demand for justice in public spheres has increased and has to be met publicly – by churches and the state: Spiritual Counselling has exceeded the setting of an encounter between two persons – counsellor and client. In many cases counselling, as practiced in South Africa, cannot be transferred to European standards. Vice versa the counselling practice being used in Europe or in the USA cannot be easily transferred to South Africa or South East Asia as well. Counselling – as Pastoral Care – has to be of assistance for public spheres – where people meet. It has to meet a broader awareness within the society. It has to lead to a better and more healthy life – in many aspects of peoples’ existence. Care and Counselling has to perform at the Market Place, not only in the pastor’s or counsellor’s office.12 The challenge in the pastoral approach to well-being is a holistic approach with an emphasis on an integrative perspective wherein the human body, a vital part and ingredient of spirituality (embodied spirituality), and care are involved in the whole of human life; as such, the networking relationships should be healed. Therapy is a spiritual practice – not just a fixing of human problems – a facilitation of movement towards what is characterised as shalom in the Judaeo-Christian tradition; a shalom that is both internal and environmental. The emphasis in Pastoral Care and Counselling lies in the socalled spiritual therapy. The quest for meaning and significance gains importance and the question arises, how does God fit into the picture of human suffering and the quest for human dignity and justice?13 in Approaches to counselling within the concept of ‘wholeness hope care’14 are discussed. They were developed in 12. Louw (2012:1). 13. Louw (2012:3). 14. Title of a publication by Daniel Louw, emeritus professor at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. 9 Spiritual Counselling in a global perspective South African society, which is and was predominantly shaped by Christianity – noticing that parts of an indigenous world view are included in the concept of wholeness. In the following chapters, I will contrast this South African approach of counselling practice with the situation and the challenges of counselling in multi-cultural and multi-religious contexts in South East Asia. Dealing with cultural diversity has many layers. One is presented by the worldwide experienced pastoral psychologist Emmanuel Y. Lartey.15 In his publications,16 he insists on the idea that Spiritual Counselling is deeply rooted in regional and cultural spiritual knowledge. Without accepting and appreciating these cultural roots, a counsellor cannot express his and/or her deeper concerns for indigenous people. Within the context of multicultural and multi-religious societies, indigenous counselling is an adequate form of approach. Inclusion of indigenous cultural roots in life and faith is of outstanding importance for the individual and for the community, not only for counselling but also for liturgies, for social work in the parish and for theological reflections in the realm of syncretism. Such a spiritual approach has long been practised by the Catholic Church in Indonesia, implying the indigenous Adat culture17 in Flores. The concluding reflections aim to unfold an inner dialogue between most different worlds within the movement of Spiritual Counselling. It is my vision that this study will build bridges – from and to Asia, from and to Africa, from and to Europe – with a suitable respect for the Other in order to promote the work, leading to a profound encounter; the European style of theology and counselling to meet Asian and African counselling and theology. 15. Emmanuel Y. Lartey was born in Ghana, where he became a pastor. He then worked as a theological lecturer in Birmingham, United Kingdom (UK), and is currently a professor of pastoral psychology in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. 16. Lartey (2006, 2013). 17. Adat is the basic culture of the Indonesian archipelago, rooted in Java, but spread out on all other islands. 10 Introduction The reflections of the Indian Catholic theologian Felix Wilfred18 and the Belgian Catholic theologian Jacques Dupuis,19 on intercultural and interreligious Public Theology in Asia, led to broader concepts in this respect. Regarding the theory and practice of Spiritual Counselling, this means that the interest in identifying the special regional access and the basic regional needs of indigenous people faces a challenge to open and widen its perspectives into a global view. This especially leads, in one case, to a theory of general layers of Spiritual Counselling in Asia. South African counsellors doubt whether it is possible to have a general view on individuals who once have been victims of violence and war. Their proposal is to approach clients in such highly stressed situations and to acknowledge the individuals’ suffering and pain. And this should be done in a manner of compassion and presence (this is a concept which speaks about a habitus [manner] of compassion and presence when approaching people in a therapeutical way). But the energy and resilience capacities of counsellors are not endless. By indicating the risks of compassion fatigue for the counsellor (or second trauma in trauma therapy), pastoral psychologists from South Africa underline the necessity of caring for the caregiver, which is more than just supervising. It tends to become a demand for a caring theology for both counsellor and client. A theological approach to Spiritual Counselling in precarious, violence-affected contexts, with poor healthcare systems and with poor access to education, has to take into consideration the challenges of daily life in these environments. It has to meet the requirements of the people. It has to take into consideration the requirements of the professionals in Care and Counselling. 18. Wilfred (2015). 19. Dupuis (2010). 11 Spiritual Counselling in a global perspective Collectively, it has to explain a theology of shared daily life for the marketplace. God is in the encounter. God is in-between. God is in the future. The future has to be developed. Spiritual Counselling, when following these aims, is part of the wider concept and broader impulse of Public Theology. This is my special thesis, to be confirmed in this study. 12 Part One Chapter 1 Pastoral and/ or Spiritual Care and Counselling in South East Asia Pastoral Care and Counselling have been practised by Christian churches in South East Asia, including Japan, for the last 50 years. This chapter will provide a general overview of the regions and the history of the organisations that offer psychological assistance to Christians in the culturally diverse societies of South East Asia. Countries and regions Several of the countries mentioned here were European colonies in colonial times. India became independent from Great Britain in 1947, Indonesia became independent from the Netherlands in 1945, and the How to cite: Elsdörfer, U., 2019, ‘Pastoral and/or Spiritual Care and Counselling in South East Asia’, in Spirituality in diversity: South East Asia meets South Africa Towards a global view of Spiritual Counselling, 2nd edn., pp. 15–24, AOSIS, Cape Town. https://doi.org/10.4102/ aosis.2019.BK156.01 15 Pastoral and/or Spiritual Care and Counselling in South East Asia people of the Philippines lived under Spanish colonial rule beyond that. The Philippines later came under the administration of the USA, finally gaining independence in 1945. From 1945 onwards, Indonesia was governed by two strong rulers, General Soekarno and General Soeharto, until in 1998 when the country turned to a more democratic form of government. Since then, several civil wars have threatened the young democracy, and the Great Tsunami in 2004 devastated the country, especially the province of Banda Aceh. Japan has a long and independent history. During the Second World War, Japan ended up offending other Eastern Asian Countries. Japan’s religious traditions are Shinto, Buddhism and Confucianism. Japan shares Confucianism with other bigger political entities in South East Asia, especially China and Korea. Apart from a very traditional and old church in South India, belonging to the Saint Thomas Christians, Christianity emerged in the region with the arrival of the conquerors, bringing along missionaries or at least Catholic priests and Protestant pastors as spiritual leaders of their own communities. Christian churches in Japan resulted from missionary work at the end of the 19th century, when Japan opened its borders to emigrants from other countries. Commercial contact with Europe and succeeding political exchanges were crucial for this development. Christians in Japan form 2% of the population, and in Indonesia, the majority of the population are Muslims. Being Christian and a member of a special denomination is closely related to an ethnic or regional background. Christians in India form about 2% of the population, but India has a long history of Christianity. The Saint Thomas Christians have lived in India since the 1st century. In the Philippines, the majority of Christians are Catholics. Conferences and institutions Every second year, the newly founded organisations for Pastoral Care and Counselling in Asia have met in order to improve the 16 Chapter 1 quality of their research and work, as well as to evaluate the needs of their frequently changing societies. During the early years the regional focus was on the Philippines, India and Japan, with Korea, Hong Kong and Indonesia being added later. Philippines The first document for the Philippines on the introduction of the American model for Pastoral Care and Counselling was contained in a report by Horst Ostermann.20 In the meantime, the name changed to Asia Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (AACPE), and in 2017 there still existed Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) programmes for a supervisor certification. These educational programmes are held at the Manila CPE Center, Pasay City. The first Asian Conference on Pastoral Care and Counselling took place in Manila in 1982. No documents are left to provide information about the subjects of the discussions. A second Asian Conference on Pastoral Care and Counselling followed two years later, in 1984, in Tokyo. Thirty delegates from 10 Asian countries met with 100 Japanese colleagues. They discussed the tasks accompanying the practice of Spiritual Counselling with delegates from Asia. The delegates came from 15 different Protestant churches, and there were many members from the Catholic Church, especially theologians. The aim of the meeting was: 1. To develop a mutual understanding of pastoral psychological work in Asia on an ecumenical level. 2. To opt for the development of national associations for persons working in Pastoral Care and Counselling, as well as to empower them towards improving their practice and developing a professional standard. 20. Horst Ostermann is a German Protestant theologian and pastoral psychologist. He lived and worked in the Philippines. 17 Pastoral and/or Spiritual Care and Counselling in South East Asia 3. To improve the knowledge of the individuals, and to enhance the standards through information, workshops and lectures. Excursions and practical work accompanied the programme, which aimed at an exchange of theory and practice. 4. The development of standards for extended educational programmes within the associations of the countries. They should fit individual conditions, and they should have comparable levels as well. 5. Clinical Pastoral Education programmes should be developed according to international standards for CPE closely related to American standards. India The third Asian Conference on Pastoral Care and Counselling was held in 1986 in New Delhi. Again, the members aimed at greater transparency in thinking and action among the Christians in South East Asia, especially among those who deal with everyday life in their countries. The Indian Association of Pastoral Care and Counselling hosted the conference. The subject was ‘The Family’ and touched on how family structures had changed in the different countries. Insecurities in social status were experienced in everyday life and in the traditional style of family life. It was an important subject for all regions, accompanied by a disintegration of the institution of the family, as even in Asia an extended family meant a growing demand for psychological assistance, especially in the vicinity of the big cities. There were many who relied on such assistance to negotiate their changing lifestyles – women, children and youngsters were among the most prominent clientele of pedagogical and social workers. Slums were growing as people left their rural districts. It resulted in rampant unemployment and the growth of settlements. In addition, poverty and the lack of assisting social systems led to manifold problems, especially concerning healthcare and chances for education. Christians felt challenged to help, together with members of other religions. 18 Chapter 1 A total of 150 members from India and 30 members from the rest of Asia participated in this conference, all of them concerned with education, counselling and social work.21 In the conference in New Delhi, the following topics were discussed: 1. how to connect professionals from different contexts for a dialogue, such as medical doctors, nurses, teachers and social workers 2. how to improve education in family counselling 3. how to empower the members to search for new accesses to family politics, to approach single families and single persons in need 4. how to develop new projects of co-habitation and new lifestyles 5. preparing couples for marriage 6. how to establish counselling for families 7. appreciating the new roles of women 8. reinterpreting the role of being parents, to discuss the situation of ethnic diversity and (very seldom) interreligious marriages. An introduction to the then important problems and challenges of the Indian society was presented by Professor Padmasani J. Gallup.22 The traditional societies of India were based on rules rooted in the caste system; their customs were based on traditional norms and a clearly expressed will not to change anything in this respect. This implied especially the status of women. In the Hindu religion, there exists an assumption that only a man can develop his personality and by that can achieve a higher status in the religious and spiritual hierarchy. According to this view, women cannot be developed spiritually because of their inferior mentalities. Women can achieve higher spiritual goals only when they assist men to 21. Sharif (1986:11). 22. Gallup (2013:125–135). 19 Pastoral and/or Spiritual Care and Counselling in South East Asia improve their character. Women have to be mothers and housewives, for which they are appreciated. They can even aim for Moksha,23 the moral development of their husbands by assisting them to attend to their religious obligations and by doing the daily prayers for them. But this does not mean that they will achieve Moksha for themselves. This concept is the general view of Hinduism as Gallup24 interprets spirituality in India. A great shift has taken place in the modern world’s view regarding Indian society. India is a democracy, and as far as Indian law is concerned, all persons are equal – whether Brahmin or Dalit. In spite of that, the ancient caste system persists as a traditional custom. This means that in the workplace and during working hours, equality must be ensured, but in leisure time the separation of the castes is still practised. Concerning the practice of marriage, many people are turning away from arranged marriages, but there exists an unwritten law that implies that a person should find a partner in his or her own caste. India makes use of Western-style science and technology; in fact, Information Technology (IT) is one of the prime job innovations in the country. With it came an explosion of changes which caused many societal upheavals. Especially with regard to the Indian hierarchy, Western societies brought new aspects to India’s daily life. Young people are required to adapt to Western standards of work, and they have to submit to the rules of pragmatic efficiency. This is a great challenge, especially for young men in India because of their traditional role. The family system still educates a young man with privileges compared to his female siblings, at least if he is a Brahmin. He is not required to develop a sense of gender equality. If he enters university education, which is normally combined with the boarding school system, he may have a problem in dealing with his female peers who have equal rights and sometimes behave in a way that challenges his self-esteem. It has been found that becoming an adult is difficult for such young 23. Moksa is a part of Atman, a high level of spiritual hierarchy in Hinduism. 24. Gallup (2013:125). 20 Chapter 1 men, because up to that moment they had not understood the difference between what was once learnt and what their new role actually demands of them. India is frequently in the daily news because of reports about brutal attacks by young men on women. Japan On 01 January 1998, the Clinical Pastoral Education and Research Center was founded in Japan by Japan’s Catholic Church with the principal idea that Spiritual Counselling was necessary for a concept of wholeness in healthcare25 Japan was and currently is fundamentally different from India and the Philippines. In Japan, practice of any religion in public was strictly forbidden. Any funding and support from the state or civil society with regard to material or spiritual contributions was lacking. Hospitals were not established to act as places for CPE, but rather to provide room in public hospitals. Pastoral Care was provided in Christian hospitals since 1991, in short units of about five days, with an average of six participants. About 60 Christian hospitals existed during that time. This number dwindled in the following years because of the increasing non-acceptance of religious institutions in the country. In the 1990s, the first steps towards implementing Spiritual Counselling in Christian churches were initiated, and the results were presented at the International Congress of ICPCC in Accra, Ghana, in 1999. In this programme, Spiritual Care is regarded to be necessary for hospitals, retirement homes and schools or hospices. This is the case as religion is no longer mentioned elsewhere in public life: From the beginning, everything had to be financed and organized by private initiatives, and Spiritual Care then was practiced in the then 60 Christian hospitals. The medical staff was not allowed to support religious activities, so there was nearly no support in the beginning. 25. Kippes (1999). The Clinical Pastoral Education and Research Center: Jesus the healer. 21 Pastoral and/or Spiritual Care and Counselling in South East Asia The units were small, and the time between the units was dependent on many factors, but there lacked a clear structure. After 1999 the situation changed, and standards of worldwide practice of CPE were implemented as trainings [sic] of professionals and volunteers. The leader of the Clinical Pastoral Education and Research Center was the Catholic priest Waldemar Kippes. He was the first person to give a report on it.26 In recent times, the Professional Association of Spiritual Care and Health (PASCH), a new interreligious educational programme, was developed. The Professional Association of Spiritual Care and Health was started in 2005. Its agenda says that Spiritual Care and Spirituality have to be clearly separated. In the meantime, two different groups of PASCH members were established. One aimed at initiating educational processes through meetings and discussions, while the other offers Spiritual Care training. The training programme is for volunteers who want to visit persons in hospitals, hospices, retirement homes and schools. It is important for the Japanese ideological and political background to clarify that spiritual counsellors are not psychological counsellors. Also, they do not act as leaders, especially of congregations. Spiritual counsellors aim at caring and counselling in life crises – for instance, in the hospital when patients expect surgery, for persons in retirement homes in stressful and fearful situations or for pupils under extreme pressure fearing failure in examinations. The methods were adopted from CPE training programmes in the USA. They began 30 years ago, yet even in 2005 supervisors were trained in the USA. At the 10th Congress of APCPCC in Sendai, Japan, certificates were given to volunteers, in cooperation with a Buddhist organisation. These volunteers were trained in Japan. From 2000 to 2005, 130 volunteers were certified. 26. Kippes (1999:n.p.). 22 Chapter 1 The programme is charted for persons from different religious traditions, and it implies different spiritual aspects. In general, it is necessary for a voluntary counsellor to be certified, in keeping with the regulations and standards in the hospitals. Toshiyuko Kubotera founded this programme and introduced it when he was a professor of Pastoral Care and Counselling. He hoped that, in Japan, spirituality as a subject of science might be appreciated. His concept of spirituality is not limited to religion – on the contrary, it includes psychology, anthropology, history and other disciplines. Spirituality is rooted in cultural traditions and in the awareness of nature; Japanese people find nature to be predominant. Indigenous groups in Japan have gods that are based on the awareness of nature – therefore, they find it difficult to understand the abstract icon of the Christian God. But, Japanese spirituality tends to see something ‘great’ behind the apparent world, says Kubotera.27 The development of Spiritual Care in Japan has increased and was already successful in the cooperation of different religions. The 10th APCPCC Conference in Sendai, Japan,28 presented a positive result. It was organised as a joint venture programme involving Christian and Buddhist organisations. Kubotera explains: I hope that spiritual concerns, and spiritual research will open a new area of our culture. We may acknowledge that spiritual issues will help to make our lives more meaningful and peaceful because we can see the whole life from spiritual perspectives. We are always in some type of crisis, such a natural disaster like the recent earthquake, tsunami and the nuclear power accident. In everyday life, we may unfortunately experience an accident, the death of a loved one, the loss of a job, a divorce or other difficulties. We have been struggling with these disasters in our personal life. The suffering associated with disasters is much more painful than we can imagine. I hope to help 27. Kubotera (2013). 28. The author was a participant at the conference. 23 Pastoral and/or Spiritual Care and Counselling in South East Asia those people who have experienced pain and who suffer with the question why me with spiritual perspectives. I hope that Spiritual Care will provide the care of comfort, encouragement, and healing. We hope our program of PASCH will train the people who can be with those who are hurt, who feel lost, separated, and in pain. This congress will continue to encourage people to work together for a caring ministry. I hope that this congress will move us one step forward in the Spiritual Care movement. We want to share our experiences with you, learn from you and pray together to create a better world. Thank you for your patience.29 Interreligious cooperation was the predominant subject of this conference. It demonstrated to what extent the volunteers had been trained. They were thoroughly prepared to be counsellors in various emergency situations Japan had and still has to face. 29. Kubotera (2013:n.p.). 24 Chapter 2 Indonesia History Indonesia, in its current state, has been shaped by colonisation and post-colonialism. Going back in history, the geographical region now known as Indonesia formed one multi-cultural and multi-religious unity with India. From the 16th century onwards, Indonesia’s widespread islands were colonised by European settlers. The first were the Portuguese in the eastern part of the islands. They occupied Flores and other islands. They brought along the Catholic faith. It survived over the centuries, and the expressions of faith have developed and changed over the centuries. Flores and the neighbouring Moluccas were starting places for a worldwide trade in spices. In the following centuries, the Netherlands colonised other parts of the country, including Java, with the town of Batavia (present-day Jakarta). With the invasion of the Japanese into many Asian countries before and during World War II, especially in Indonesia (1943–1945), and during the Japanese capitulation, How to cite: Elsdörfer, U., 2019, ‘Pastoral and/or Spiritual Care and Counselling in South East Asia’, in Spirituality in diversity: South East Asia meets South Africa Towards a global view of Spiritual Counselling, 2nd edn., pp. 25–43, AOSIS, Cape Town. https://doi.org/10.4102/ aosis.2019.BK156.02 25 Indonesia Indonesia’s independence was achieved by politicians of Indonesian origin. The first president was General Soekarno – until 1965 – succeeded by General Soeharto up to 1998 (New Order). A long-lasting influence of military forces on civil society is still recognisable. On 30 September 1965, a great shadow fell on the growing independence of the country. A military uprising, parts of which included persons from the military and communists, killed more than 500 000 people. Many people were imprisoned, while others were deported to work camps and kept there until the mid-1970s. Short trials were held, and in most cases the murderers were not persecuted. Today, after the end of Soeharto’s regime in 1998, the public discussion of this short period in the history of Indonesia begins. Two films, The Act of Killing (2013) and The Look of Silence (2014), directed by Joshua Oppenheimer, look back at and portray the killings that took place in 1965 in an impressive way. One of the former perpetrators gives an example of his work in The Act of Killing, including what they did, how they tortured victims and how they executed deadly attacks. For this performance, Oppenheimer and the movie team chose volunteers, whom they approached on the street, as actors. For one of the perpetrators - as presented in the film - this was a method of dealing with his guilt and with the memories of the cruelties, and for the lay actors, this event became a special history lesson. This uprising marked the end of Soekarno’s era. He and the co-founders of Indonesia developed the state ideology of ‘Pancasila’. Soekarno has has long used it to maintain the unity of the multi-cultural island state. During that time, opposition against Soekarno’s rule grew in the military. In 1965, the opposition wanted to overthrow his government. The uprising was in time to provide a chance for General Soeharto to present himself for succession. Soekarno withdrew in 1965. With Soeharto, the political period of the ‘New Order’ emerged; a centralistic and nationalistic administration was established by 26 Chapter 2 the military, with General Soeharto in charge. Anti-communism was part of the political culture. Each year on 30 September, the public TV interprets the 1965 uprising in a film showing the government’s point of view. For years, this led to blaming the communists for any political uproar. That way, those who were not members of the officially acknowledged religions were regarded as communists. Witnesses of those times remember some of the so-called communists. They were only 15 or 16 years old when they were imprisoned. Most of them had nothing to do with politics, and they did not know anything about communism.30 This historical event has not been mentally overcome by Indonesia’s public yet, nor by some people in their private lives. One of the reasons for reconciliation work and reconciliation counselling is rooted in the happenings of those days of torture. In an interview with the daughter of a former prisoner who was imprisoned from 1965 to the middle of the 1970s, I got the impression of how easily people could become suspects. The father of my interview partner spent 10 years in prison. A long time after his release, the state accepted responsibility for his rehabilitation. For the rest of his life, he was given a pension and occupied a political office again.31 Authors cited this event as the 1965 ‘stigma’ of the current state of Indonesia. Implied in the rumours of the time was the persecution of feminist women who were fighting for the rights of women to live an independent life, to have professions and to work so that they need not be dependent on payment from their husbands. ‘Gerakan Wanita Indonesia’ (GERWANI) was the name of one of the groups blamed for being actors in the uprising and for acting cruelly against parts of the military. 30. This text is from an interview with witnesses of that time, from the conference Reconciling History with 1965 of Goethe University Frankfurt, Main, 10–12 November 2016. 31. Interview, Indonesian pastor, unspecified date. 27 Indonesia Asvi Warman Adam from LIPI – Jarkarta32 explains: In October 1965, Major General Soeharto was assigned to run operations to restore security and public order […]. Classification of those involved in the G30S was later decreed. Class A (involved and tried), Class B (lacking evidence for trial), Class C (supporter). Engineering of history took form in history studies, building monuments and museums, film production and observation of historical events. Two formulas are always used to create and put stigmata on people associated with communism. First, they are fiercely ruthless, and it has been around since early October 1965 when Gerwani were falsely accused of cutting off the genitals and cutting out the eyeballs of the generals. Second, the despise of religion. 33 After the end of Soeharto’s rule in 1998, the period of ‘Reformasi’ started. Decentralisation of administration was one of the political goals of the democratic government. This is supposed to strengthen the regional autonomy, in order to maintain the official state philosophy of Pancasila,34 and to assist in strengthening the inner cohesion of the widespread island state. Indigenous and pre-colonial traditions and their inherent indigenous religions gradually gained more public perception and more rights. For a long time, the official religions, especially Islam, had to adapt to indigenous traditions, in order to survive. The ‘Adat’, a special indigenous tradition deriving from Java, is well-known in the whole society. Adat represents very peaceful social structures. They are rooted in feelings and ideas of harmony of man with nature. Adat could easily be combined with Sufi Islam, which has peaceful and friendly traditions, songs and customs. In Indonesia, a smiling Islam was developing over time in history, which is peaceful, friendly and humane. Nowadays, this is contrasted by newly imported Islamic groups that 32. LIPI – Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia –Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Jakarta. 33. Asvi (2016:n.p.). 34. The term ‘Pancasila’ will be explained in Chapter 3. 28 Chapter 2 prefer violence. As long as Islam is a part of politics, as long as Islamic parties and persons rule the country, build the government and are members of Parliament, from time to time members of other religions claim to be regarded as of minor public interest in the multi-cultural state of Indonesia. Christianity in this discourse takes the second most important role, although historically it is the youngest religion in the region. But, it has a monotheistic image of God, and so it is closely related to Islam. Old religious traditions like Hinduism and Buddhism find it more difficult to be included in the philosophy of unity in Pancasila. In some regions, peaceful coexistence of religions has been difficult since 1998. Violence broke out in East Timor at the beginning of the millennium, with the violence in Aceh mostly developing through escalations of private conflicts between Christians and Muslims. Camps were built for ‘internal displaced persons’ (IDP) as a result of the war in East Timor. Following the example of a worldwide practice of reconciliation processes after civil wars, the government or non-governmental organisations (NGOs) tried to implement reconciliation negotiation initiatives. These processes will provide a renewed chance for all participants in the former wars to live together in peace in the same region. They are not based on retaliation. They try to develop forms of renewed structures for future life. Some Christian and Muslim religious principles, but also the fundamental character of Adat culture, which regard peacefully shared life as the highest quality, can be of assistance. Methods like trauma counselling help in special cases and regions. Pancasila state Indonesia is a multi-cultural and multi-religious country, and it is a modern democratic state. With the founding of the state in 1945, many cultural traditions from different regions of South East Asia were combined in the new state Indonesia – they have never 29 Indonesia been connected before in this specific form. Bahasa Indonesia was promoted to be the unifying language. Influences from Arabic and Portuguese languages, from the Netherlands and from indigenous traditions, are found in this language. Bahasa Indonesia is officially taught in schools, but other than that, people speak their regional languages. Heterogeneity and multi-culturalism are part of the state doctrine of Pancasila. The harmony of cosmic order is a basic principle of Java culture, and 40% of the people of Indonesia belong to this culture. Adat implies a traditional law and, according to many Indonesians, it was still influential in political life in 2017. The peaceful coexistence of different ethnic groups and different religions is regarded to be the political and public goal. A monotheistic image of God and its theology are part of the constitution. Islam is predominant, showing its moderate character, as part of the so-called gentle Indonesian mentality, with spiritual roots in Sufi traditions. The goal of unification of Indonesian cultures and a more aggressive aspect in public Islam somehow changed the historical view during recent years. In size, Christianity is the second-largest religion. Nine per cent of the population are Christians. Catholic and Protestant churches represent two religions according to the state administration. In recent times, charismatic Protestant movements have entered the religious scene in Indonesia and are already listed by the state. The ancient Asian religions of Buddhism and Hinduism have had problems in being accepted as monotheistic, as was required by the state philosophy of Pancasila. The foundational ‘five pillars’ of the constitution include an acceptance of ‘one God’. This did not really fit into Buddhism and Hinduism. Recently, the two religions have provided a self-interpretation of being monotheistic, contrary to the diversity of their outer appearance. One uniting power – Advaita in Hinduism – is claimed to be the main theological source behind all historical images of the different gods. Such a theological interpretation opens the door to the prescriptions of the Indonesian constitution, which calls for a 30 Chapter 2 monotheistic faith for all citizens. Buddhism, with its wide interpretation of spirituality, provides a place for those who are not convinced by the other religions but have to be members of a religion according to the constitution.35 Confucianism and Taoism are traditions in Asia, alongside modern religions like Bahá’i. They are accepted in Indonesia, but the acceptance is not official enough to grant registration in the passport. This registration as a member of one of the nation’s religions is required by every Indonesian citizen. With the founding of Indonesia as a state, manifold political interests emerged. Nationalist parties were interested in revitalising or maintaining cultural traditions. Some Muslims wanted to implement the Sharia law (as it was proposed in the Jakarta Charter 1945)36, but Christians objected to that plan. The constitution resembles Western constitutions. The law was secularised. This was a fact until in recent years when the topic of Sharia law was raised again; however, only the Indonesian regional district state of Banda Aceh, Sumatra, has adopted Sharia law. Without any religious foundation, the constitution did not seem to fit into the character of this new state (in 1945). The philosophy of ‘Pancasila’ (five pillars: Panca Sila) included the principles of tradition, religion and modernity as follows: 1. a religious foundation of the state and individual membership of every citizen in a monotheistic religion – faith in one God 2. humanity 3. democracy 4. social justice 5. national unity. Pancasila was the philosophy of unification of different traditions and ethnicities, and it stood for identification with 35. On forms and conditions of membership in religions, see Franke (2012:190). 36. See Franke (2012:15). 31 Indonesia the state of Indonesia. It was an important foundation for the governmental periods under both Soekarno (1945–1965) and Soeharto (1965–1998). In the current period of Reformasi, Pancasila seems to have lost its importance. There is still the claim for ‘unity in diversity’, but in recent developments other political sources are important: The political debates on the basis of the state, or on relations between state and religion, have contributed to the more permanent establishment of Pancasila as basis of the state, rather than Islam or laicité secularism. They have shown that opposing parties (secular nationalists and Muslims groups) should negotiate their views and interests officially through democratic (political) mechanisms. This does not account for popular and intellectual debates, which deserve separate studies. While Islam was not accommodated as the basis of the state, laicité secularism was rejected also. However, although Pancasila is basically secular too, it does not subscribe to strong secularism; it is – to use Abdurrahman Wahid’s (2001) term – a mild secularism.37 Moch Nor Ichwan, a professor in Yogyakarta, is convinced that Pancasila is not as important as it was in the beginning and in the recent history of the country; however, there is still a future for it, as long as debates on religious values are still present in the public mind. The state is forced to develop a ‘mild privatisation’ – the privatisation of religion will come step by step, but it is still not officially discussed. Pancasila, with its long history and still existing power to integrate, can mediate between all other ‘isms’. By this, the future of Pancasila is guaranteed, as religious values will persist, but secularisation will open spaces for individual lifestyles for modern citizens. Along with mild political privatisation, Islamic social models may have a chance to grow by private initiatives, for example, the Islamic Banking or Islamic Family Law, and by this they could somehow inspire the mild separation of state and religion.38 37. Ichwan (2012:n.p.). 38. Concluding Remarks, in Ichwan (2012:43). 32 Chapter 2 Concerning its history since 1945, Pancasila ideology seems to have had a civil-religious function, closely related to the official state of religions.39,40 The separation of state and religion remains an option for future politics in Indonesia. Pancasila religions After Indonesia’s independence in 1945, influences from neighbouring countries, cultures and political contexts knocked on the door. Along with the uprising of 1965, the threat of communism was part of the political agenda. Atheism appeared here and there, but up to this point in time it is of little importance. The persecutions led to a chapter in Indonesia’s history which now – after the millennium and with Reformasi – has gained public acceptance. The last decade of the 20th century brought along violence between Christians and Muslims in the eastern parts of the country – East Timor and the Moluccas. During the tsunami of 2004, Banda Aceh, a region in the western part of the country, was affected by violence between Christians and Muslims. Aid programmes ceased to be successful, and the infrastructure was damaged. After the turbulences in East Timor and the Moluccas, many persons were evicted from their home regions, frequently for many years. They had to live in refugee camps in other parts of the country as IDPs. After the millennium, the situation calmed down, and some people could return to their home districts. Well-known methods of peace reconciliation, of conflict and 39. Franke and Pye (2006:73). 40. This thesis and its current debate are presented by Benyamin Fleming Intan (2008), who follows the idea that the secularisation of Western style would not have been an option for Indonesia, neither is it an option in the current state. But the historical foundation is not yet balanced adequately. Soeharto preferred nationalism and opted for economic interests, and by that corruption grew. Globally, religions are not used as foundations of political unities any longer. Instead, justice, humanity and equal rights for all are considered paramount. Religions and state in Indonesia have to change, in order to revitalise Pancasila. 33 Indonesia trauma counselling, were practised here. With this work of counselling and negotiating, the reconstruction of a renewed democracy began. It included new perspectives on the coexistence of multi-ethnic and multi-religious members of the society. Counsellors and trained religious experts for Spiritual Care were needed. The pastors and priests more and more took the role of care workers with spiritual knowledge.41 After years of open conflict in East Timor and the Moluccas, a time of peaceful reconstruction followed. In other regions of Indonesia, Christians are predominant, but in Sumatra and Java, and in some parts of the country, Christians live in the midst of Muslim regions. In Timor and Papua New Guinea, Catholic Christians were the first Europeans. Indonesia has 33 provinces, three of them with Christian majorities. Ministry of Religious Affairs The founders of the constitution had the task to define the role of Agama – the religions. For them, the relation of religions with the state was important. This included the definition of public law – whether it is rooted in any religious regulations or whether it is independent by definition. A strict separation of religion (in this case Islam) and the state, following the example of Turkey, was not suggested by Soekarno and his colleagues. They wanted neither a secular nor a religious state. This resulted in the ‘five-pillar’ philosophy. The claim for monotheism in the constitution demanded an administration of the activities of religions, and for that reason, the Ministry of Religious Affairs (MORA) was founded. The first idea was to include parts of the religious activities in other ministries, such as social donations (zakat fitrah) in the Ministry of Economy or Islamic foundations (waqf ) in the Ministry of Justice. Another proposal was to add religion to the Ministry of Education: Therefore, if examined carefully, the Ministry of Religious Affairs is a new ministry that has nothing to do with the colonial past, because 41. Seo (2013:44ff.). 34 Chapter 2 it was born in tandem with the Proclamation of Indonesian People against colonialism.42 This is the beginning of a Pancasila state with the Ministry of Religion, which was […] a middle way between the way of Turkey and the founding of an Islamic State. However, as we have seen, this Ministry has also facilitated the secularization of religious affairs on the one hand, and the religionization of state affairs on the other hand.43 Islam The diversity of religions in Indonesia comes along with positive public effects. Church and Mosque share the same places in town, for instance, in the centre of Jakarta. Members of both religions share streets and parking lots, and they find peaceful ways to live as neighbours.44 Especially, the indigenous form of Islam Java presents Islam as peaceful and harmonious – as the cultural traditions fill the religion with their spirit. Islam Java tends to have pantheist aspects and is related to Sufi traditions: In Islam Jawa, which is connected to the sultanates of Java, the faith in a future revelation of a Goddess, the ratu adil, is important. The ancient Queen will bring wellbeing, wealth and justice when recoming in the end of times. This tradition is rooted in the prophecy of Joyo boyo (Ramala Joyo boyo), an apocalyptic scripture from 1157. Its origin is Java tradition, and it still helps the people to interpret and manage difficulties resulting from misuse of power by emperors.45 Many Muslims in Indonesia belong to the classic Sunni Islam, and some Muslims are related to modernist movements like a religious–political movement that came from Egypt at the end of the 19th century.46 There are modern exegetical forms of reading 42. Ichwan (2012:15ff.). 43. Ichwan (2012:16ff.). 44. Seo (2013:76ff.). 45. Franke (2012:79). 46. Around the Egyptian politician and reformer Mohammed Abdu. 35 Indonesia and understanding the Qu’ran and the Sunna. There is the Sufi tradition in the Muhammadiyah and Naqshbandiyya Haqqaniyyya (mentioned here in a separate chapter) and many other Sufi communities. Some of them are open for contacts with the Christians, in order to have a peaceful civil life. There is ‘Liberal Islam’,47 which promotes democracy and religious pluralism and has its roots in Islam. The biggest Muslim organisations are the Muhammadiyah and the Nahdatul Ulama (NU). For them, Pancasila represents a fundamental condition humaine, an expression of a fundamental constitution of humankind: NU is convinced that Islam is a religion closely related to human nature. Islam in this view implies the quality to complete and combine all positive aspects of mankind. The religious concept of NU wants to develop the practice of those good values, which are already existing in a nation or in a single person.48 Martin von Bruinessen gives a description of Muhammadiyah: The Muhammadiyah, studied here by Ahmad Najib Burhani, is one of the oldest Muslim associations and the second largest after the Nadhlatul Ulama […] The Muhammadiyah has established a vast network of schools all over the country, and a dozen universities, as well as hospitals and orphanages. Unlike the NU, the Muhammadiayah can pride itself in an enormous pool of highly educated members who are employed in all modern sectors of society. A very high proportion of Muhammadiyah members, however, including virtually all members of the board, appear to be civil servants – many of them university teachers.49 But Laskar jihad exists as well. It is a radical Islamic group, and its founders and members were warriors in Afghanistan (Laskar Mujahidin). It is most prominent in a growing number of fundamentalist and Salafist movements in the country, the Islamic State (IS) included.50 The influence of radicals is on the rise, and 47. Woodward (2011). 48. Jegalus (2008:59). 49. Van Bruinessen (2013:8). 50. Madinier (2016b). 36 Chapter 2 the state in times of Reformasi is concerned to let the gentle Pancasila state prevail and to prevent the rise of violent aspects in contemporary Islam in Indonesia. Christianity MORA differentiates by defining the Christian religion. There are Protestants (in the Indonesian language: Kristen) and Catholics (in the Indonesian language: Katolik). In colonial times, the influence of the churches was dependent on their relationship to political power. Protestant Christians were closer to the Dutch colonial power, but they were part of the movement for the independence of Indonesia as well. Shortly before and after independence, the two churches exercised different political influences. Some researchers regard the Catholics to have been more independent from the state, as they were not influenced as much by political shifts. After the colonial rule, Protestants lost their influence while that of the Catholic Church improved. The most significant influence for an independent Indonesia was derived from Islam: Indigenization of Christianity is a case of the Catholic Christians in Indonesia, whereas Protestant Christians stick to the traditional form of Adat or develop a sort of Christian Adat.51 Members of all churches are active in promoting peace and democracy. They try to live in accordance with the ancient value of harmony and bring it to the processes in society. ‘Reconciliation’ is a word that has its origin in Christianity, but it is used worldwide in the political sense – in an interreligious context, it is used with caution. There is no adequate word for ‘reconciliation’ in Islam. This religion has other words for peace processes with other connotations.52 Christians from all denominations were active in the construction of an independent Indonesian state. In the beginning, they had 51. Franke (2012:93). 52. Franke (2012:92–93). 37 Indonesia political parties (in the Indonesian language; Partai Katolik and Partai Kristen Indonesia): Christianity in Indonesia is defined by Protestantism and Catholicism, but besides this focus on the two big churches other evangelical groups, the witnesses of Jehova, pentecostal churches and churches with mixed religious traditions, belong to the spectrum of Christian denominations. This variety of Christian religious communities is not really noticed in statistics and not yet in the administration of MORA.53 The churches have their different councils and administrative governments, the most important one being the Reformed Church of Java (Geraja Kristen Indonesia) – a big church with the theological legacy from the time of the Dutch presence in Indonesia. The Ministry for Religious Affairs lists seven bigger communions of churches that are registered as partners of the state. The churches have to define themselves as communities that aim to do social work for the society. This, at least, was their official definition in the years of the New Order under Suharto. With contributions to social life, they fulfil the aims of Pancasila, to promote humanity: The Protestant church was obliged by law to fulfil the goals of Pancasila, and this was defined to be its only foundation. This puzzled the members of the church, for they felt deprived of the right to define their own goals, based on their inner definitions, and not based on a state philosophy. The Christian churches objected against this law (Pancasila as single foundation).54 In 1950, those churches that were members of the Ecumenical Council of Churches united in the Indonesian Council of Churches. In 1984, this council changed its name to the Indonesian Communion of Churches. The Catholic Church changed its organisational structures in 1985 and merged as the Conference of the Church Province of Indonesia. This conference was of a loose structure, mainly assisting the single members to achieve 53. Franke (2012:91). 54. Schumann, in Jegalus (2008:60). 38 Chapter 2 more individual space for their own practice. Single members were not compellingly obliged to fulfil the aims of Pancasila. The Catholic Church defined herself as an entity of greater size than just to be an organisation for social practice.55 Buddhism In 1965, the MORA established a department for contact with Buddhism and Hinduism. This way, Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Buddhism, Confucianism and Hinduism became partners of the Indonesian state. Smaller religious and indigenous groups were not accepted. Sometimes, their wish to organise was combined with the claim for separation from Indonesia, and this was rejected by the government. The wish for independence of regional groups was one of the reasons behind the 1965 uprising. Ethnic diversity in these years was regarded to be a threat to the unity of the state. Various efforts were made to define which religions were acceptable to the state. Since 1961, by clear state definitions, only monotheistic religions that are based on the written and canonised Holy Scriptures were accepted. It took dedication and energy to give monotheism a far-reaching interpretation – broad enough to define Buddhism and Confucianism according to the demands of the Indonesian state philosophy. This worked with the assistance of modern interpretations of Hinduism, seeing one uniting principle of Advaita56 behind the manifold images of the gods and goddesses. Buddhism is also rooted in a uniting principle behind all diversity in religious forms. It is possible to include both religions in monotheistic thinking by defining their roots in precolonial Javan culture, which includes monotheistic aspects behind the symbols of indigenous animistic culture.57 55. Jegalus (2008:60–61). 56. Advaita is based on a positive attitude of all gods towards humankind. 57. Madinier (2011) portrays Franciscus van Lith, A Dutch Jesuit, who was a missionary in Java. Van Lith wanted to use indigenous traditions for the inculturation of Christianity. He claimed to have found an indigenous monotheism. 39 Indonesia A religion with the desire to be accepted by the Indonesian state must be of international importance. Only then can it contribute to the political progress of the country in an international context. Buddhism was of nearly no importance before the foundation of the modern Indonesian state: In the Dutch colonial times temples, texts and objects from HinduBuddhist history of Indonesia were preserved and collected, but there seemed to be no further interest in Buddhism besides that.58 An increasing number of Chinese citizens migrated to Indonesia in the 20th century. They promoted a new rise of Buddhism, with new Buddhist organisations being founded. Buddhist organisations are heterogeneous, but they are united into one major organisation, called the Perwalikan Umat Buddha Indonesia (WALUBI) in Indonesian. Hinduism Hindu communities in Indonesia gather under the main organisation, namely, the Parisada Hindu Dharma, and they are mostly indigenous communities as well. Hinduism is strong in the whole region outside Indonesia. Hindu identity transcends political borders. Indonesian Hinduism lives in a fruitful tension between its interests and the demand to be a religion following the Indonesian state philosophy. Hinduism was brought to the region by ancient kings, but it survived only in Bali. Bali is the Indonesian place for syncretism. This fact gives a special flavour to the island. In the beginning, MORA did not accept the Bali syncretism. It was declared to be animistic, and by this definition, mission work by Islamic and Christian missionaries was made possible in Bali. But in general mission by other religions is forbidden in Indonesia. Hinduism in Bali and its syncretistic forms were changing during the history of Indonesia. In Bali, the supreme Hindu goddess is Sang Hyang Widhi. This goddess was the reason for 58. Franke (2012:152). 40 Chapter 2 MORA to accept Balinese syncretism as a monotheistic religion. An organisation of syncretistic Balinese religions was founded in 1959, the Parisada Dharma Hindu Bali. This organisation represented the end of the restricting influence of Hinduism on the island of Bali.59 Indigenous religions Indigenous religions are part of the ancient cultures of precolonial times. They migrated from China and India: Indigenous cultures in the beginning were regarded to be backwarded and dangerous. They were under suspicion to endanger the unity and success of the modern Indonesian state. This opinion changed within the rule of President Soeharto (1966–1998) into a more liberal position.60 At the beginning of the modern Indonesian state, from 1945 onwards, indigenous diversity was a potential danger for the Indonesian state and a challenge for a moderate Islam, but it was thought to be useful to accept it in order to prevent more fundamentalist developments in Islam. Indigenous lifestyle and religion were regarded to be an attraction for tourism. Dances, men with long hair and cultic festivals, combined with fertility rites, were perceived with suspicion – but for political reasons they were accepted. In the current phase of Reformasi, these have experienced a revival. A diversity of indigenous religions exists in the various Indonesian islands. They are all based on quite uniform social structures, imply the cosmic harmony of man and nature and stick to the unwritten law of Adat. Following the anthropologist Karl-Heinz Kohl,61 the majority of the indigenous population of the world lives in Asia, and here most of them live in Indonesia – their population is 70 000 000.62 59. Franke (2012:33–64). 60. Schefold, cited in Franke (2012:38). 61. Kohl is a professor of anthropology/ethnology at Goethe University, Frankfurt, Main. 62. Kohl (2017:13). 41 Indonesia Coexistence of religions This section begins with an illustration of a part of everyday life in Indonesia. I give a summary of personal meetings with friends,63 describing individual experiences – it is not a report on the daily practice in the country. It shows the necessity for the religions to open up for interreligious dialogue. Cooperation of religions is necessary when dealing with young couples’ wish to marry a partner of another religion. It is required by law that both partners in a marriage belong to the same religion. If the partners belong to different religions, one or the other partner has to change his or her religion. Those conversions increase, especially in regions where territories of one religion are situated in the midst of territories of the other religion – as is the case with the town of Salatiga in Java. This town has a Christian community surrounded by Muslim communities.64 Conversions increase because marriages are not arranged by families any longer. Salatiga is a university town, and more young people live in Salatiga than in other regions of the country. These young people chose their partners out their own free will. Their orientation is not primarily directed towards family interests and customs or formal aspects. With their marriage, they are confronted by the demands of Indonesian law, and they have to fulfil the law. Christian churches try to assist young couples. This facilitates the challenges of conversions to one or the other religion. The government has reflected upon changing the law to make interreligious marriages possible. The Indonesian High Court published a comment on that already in 1989.65 The document is to be understood as an indication for a de facto existing liberalisation and secularisation of the Indonesian law. Since couples must in any case be married by a pastor or imam, the 63. From personal meetings with friends from Indonesia (H. Wattimena pers. comm., 12 December 2016). 64. Seo (2013:11). 65. Seo (2013:129–130). 42 Chapter 2 practical problem still persists: couples have to choose one religion. No civil marriages are conducted. Interreligious marriages by a pastor and/or priest and imam are not as yet accepted. Churches and mosques take advantage of the act of marriage to inform and teach couples about their religions. Any knowledge held by pendetas (pastors) about Spiritual Counselling is regarded to be useful. Mosques and churches develop programmes for the cooperation and convenience of different concepts. Both partners – Christians and Muslims – agree to cooperate on emerging social problems. Until recently, they primarily did not deal with theological implications. Perhaps, one day, a level of theoretical and theological discussion will begin that accompanies the work and discussion on practical problems. Interreligious tolerance can improve: Most important for political action, according to the former minister for religions, Tarmizi Taher, is national unity and religious harmony. When approaching this aim Indonesia is prepared to facilitate changes, if necessary.66 Though the transition of religious borders in marriage is rare, it is recommended to give everyday encounters of Christians and Muslims in Indonesia a broader background. This will lead to tolerance and acceptance of each other and of different lifestyles. The debates on the role and importance of Pancasila persist, as they are useful to achieve and maintain democratic structures. Besides Islam and Christianity, other religions like Bahá’í or Ahmadiyyah or mystic communities challenge the Pancasila concept by their plea for acceptance. This has led to various changes in the theory and practice of religious and public life until now.67 66. Franke (2012:191). 67. Franke (2012:190). 43 Chapter 3 Christian spirituality in Indonesia The hidden beauty of (men and) women in vulnerable conditions During the sixth Congress of the ICPCC in Accra in Ghana, 1999, implications of a spirituality of marginalised people was considered. To be a woman and to live in a country of the socalled Third World seemed to be the best precondition to reflect on that subject. Tetty Anny Hutapea from Medan, Indonesia, gave an impression of her home region in Indonesia. She lives in a Protestant district. The people of the Batak tribe in Sumatra are Protestants, with their denomination having roots in the mission work of the German Rheinische Mission from about 1835.68 Hutapea’s topic was, ‘The hidden beauty of the Batak woman, the dignity of women’s work and spirituality’. 68. Madinier (2016b). How to cite: Elsdörfer, U., 2019, ‘Christian spirituality in Indonesia’, in Spirituality in diversity: South East Asia meets South Africa Towards a global view of Spiritual Counselling, 2nd edn., pp. 45–59, AOSIS, Cape Town. https://doi.org/10.4102/aosis.2019.BK156.03 45 Christian spirituality in Indonesia The Bataks are a strongly connected society and are mainly Christians. The word ‘family’ in the Batak language does not only describe the group consisting of mother, father and children; it also includes members of the extended family collectively belonging to a patriarchal or patrilineal clan. The inner structure of the clan is centred around the existence of a ‘family spirit’ uniting the whole clan. Adat is the basic precondition for a harmonious convenience of all members. Adat is a traditional law and culture of ancient origin, having existed long before the dawn of Islam and Christianity. Traditionally, Adat rules are not written, but they are unspoken. They include special tasks for old and young men, and for old and young women. In general, women are appreciated and honoured when doing their traditional work. Regarding the patrilineal or patriarchal order of indigenous tradition, to a Western view it may seem that women are objects of economic exchange between men. The husband has to ‘buy’ his wife from her father by paying a bride price. Once the woman lives in the ‘new family’, she has the right to manage her household on her own, and she is responsible for the upbringing of the children. Women manage the money of the household – the husband has to provide. But the woman has no right to tell her husband what to do in the household or to give him advice on what he should be doing during the day. These traditional rules for everyday life in a marriage have changed. Women now have the right to work, to hold a job and to earn their own money. They are economically independent. In spite of these reforms, however, Adat still is alive in the clans. Women do social work. There are women engaged in church professions, even female pastors, as Hutapea already reported in 1999. Women developed their own status, even in public life, but they did not have much influence in the 20th century. To have no children was seen as a deprival, a reason for shame for a woman. In 1999, the husband’s family was still allowed to opt for divorce if the woman could bear no children. 46 Chapter 3 Septemmy Lakawa, a female Protestant pastor and professor at the Jakarta Theological Seminary, tries to find positive explanations for these circumstances. Indonesian women do not describe their life and status using laws and ideas of formal emancipation. They are interested in the world of their households in which they have to work every day. The household is the private economy, the women’s place to develop a private life, where they can help others to live. God’s economy69is a challenge for the global economy after the millennium. After the year 2000, Asian societies in particular were in a state of economic crisis. Lakawa argues that God looks after the believers’ households and cares for their survival in the global economy – just as in traditional Adat culture, women look after the survival of their households and families. The author herself had to begin an inner and outer journey concerning other countries to have a new view of the relation between faith and the economy. She lived as a student in the USA, and for the first time she found that economy and theology are interrelated. Before this point in time, she had regarded this fact to be unimportant. An American professor showed his students a United States (US) Dollar, and he pointed out the importance of the written words on that US Dollar: ‘In God we trust’. This teacher changed her mind. She suddenly realised that economy and faith are connected. Even as a woman and a female pastor coming from a marginalised world, she did not understand the interconnectedness of faith and life, theology and economy. Theology, which up till that day had been a theoretical subject of academic studies to her, suddenly gained importance in her life. After some reflection, Lakawa70 points out that God is incorporated in the worlds of the poor, among whom women occupy the first place, so much so that it is true to say that 69. Lakawa (2001:119ff). 70. Lakawa (2001:120). 47 Christian spirituality in Indonesia God is rice; God is incorporated in food. Humankind can take life from God. Life is guaranteed by all sorts of nutrition. This is not only a ritual in the Lord’s supper, but it happens at lunch every day. Lakawa thinks of the research of a Japanese woman, Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney.71 She found that people in indigenous worlds define their world view and lifestyle by defining the food people eat. Lakawa is impressed and in a way depressed by the poverty of the Indonesian people at the beginning of globalisation. Indonesian people seem to suffer from being left behind the rest of the global economy in terms of development. They suffer from civil wars in their multi-cultural country and they have to live in camps as ‘displaced persons’72 in their own country. Women have to carry the burden of this situation, as they are victims of the power of men – their own and other men in the camps. Women are victims of worldwide human trafficking. In this special case, the Internet has a positive effect; here, they sometimes find some help to understand the dangers of such a way of making money. ‘God is rice’, is basic for life, according to Lakawa. If even rice, the basic nutrition of people in South East Asia, is too expensive to buy, how is it possible for Indonesian women and men to believe in God? If rice is too expensive, how is it possible to tell good (Bible) stories about God? If rice is too expensive, how can religious communities be honest when talking about the relation between God and the economy? Lakawa repeats these questions several times. She is looking for theological answers in a renewed and more just economy in 2001, in the beginning – or perhaps amid the discussions around globalisation. 71. Ohnuki-Tierney (2015). 72. Displaced persons are those who have to live in camps in Indonesia, for reasons of times of war and ongoing violence in their home regions. After a while – after these experiences from the beginning of the millennium – camps were closed, and people were sent back to their home regions. There they had to fulfil programmes similar to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa and in other conflict centres of the world. 48 Chapter 3 To imitate God’s kenotic way of life – this is a part of Lakawa’s proposal for theology and theologians. She portrays Christ as the wounded healer.73 He is the paradigm for a spiritual encounter for marginalised souls. Pastors should show their own wounds and brokenness, and they should present themselves to suffering people as objects for a projection – like Christ. An important conclusion of Hutapea’s and Lakawa’s ideas is rooted in the theology of creation, the dignity of humankind and in feminist theological approaches. Hupatea (1999), in her title, calls it the beauty of marginalised souls, ‘The (hidden) beauty of (men and) women in vulnerable conditions’. Christian churches and their social functions The number of Christians in Indonesia makes up less than 10% of the country’s total population. In 2017, the population of Indonesia was about 264 million.74 They were predominantly Protestants, with 3% Catholics. Around 322 Christian groups are listed by the MORA. These figures were published as profiles of Christianity and Christian education, institutions and churches in Indonesia by the General Directorate of Guidance for the Christian Society of the MORA.75 This chapter is dedicated to the engagement of Christians in the development of Indonesian society. In special regions of Indonesia, especially in those places where the Dutch settlers found a good climate, a larger number of Christian churches could be found, mostly of Protestant denomination. Salatiga is a town on the island of Java. In the midst of Muslim communities, more churches than mosques exist, especially at the Pancasila Square. This central place of the town hosts churches, which belong to the Protestant ecumenical movement, as well as Pentecostal churches. There is a 73. Reference to the book by Henri Nouwen (1972), entitled The wounded healer. 74. Statista (n.d.). 75. Seo (2013:20). 49 Christian spirituality in Indonesia Mosque as well, but it is smaller than the churches. Salatiga has a Christian university with a Christian theological faculty. Constellations like these – where both religions are accepted equally – did not always contribute to peace in the country. The government’s new movement for democracy and peaceful coexistence supports this convenience. In Salatiga, this convenience is guaranteed by social projects of the churches, especially by healthcare assistance offered by the churches. With 30 Christian denominations and 66 churches, the Christians may somehow threaten the Muslims living in Salatiga. Religious activities provided space for social activities for a communal convenience. In some cases, as in the recently described examples, churches do not exhibit their denominational labels. This seems to be more acceptable for the entire community. Without the label of a church, the aid itself may be appreciated even more, considering the constellations of Indonesia’s society. Around the year 2007, Salatiga had a Christian mayor beside a Muslim colleague. The Muslim mayor had a Christian wife. This made him open to the Christian community, and he protected the Christians’ meetings at official places in the town. But the mayor’s persuasions did not represent the entire Muslim community. This way, Christians decided to move to closed rooms again for their meetings and for the practice of their religion. As a result, they began to nominate Christian politicians who opted for public spheres. Christians and Muslims in Indonesia share a history of liberation from colonialism. It took quite a while before they realised that they could use this common experience for a positive coexistence and cooperation in society. Christians in numbers had a minority position compared to the Muslims. But altogether they were closer to power than the majority of the Muslim population. Today social work is crucial for religions in Indonesia. Two examples are introduced here,76 one of which is the Trukajaya 76. Seo (2013:105–124). 50 Chapter 3 Christian Institution (Trukajaya is translated as ‘a journey to more wealth’). Under this name, a major healthcare institution was founded, named the Christian Foundation for Public Health (YAKKUM). Trukajaya has established communities in different towns, especially to help families to recover from violent conflicts and their aftermath in the region. Sometimes this project brought about new tensions. The Soeharto government stopped financial aid. Trukajaya then decided to ask for financial support from the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank. By that they separated from organised Christianity in Indonesia, in order to work independently. YAKKUM is a healthcare institution. It employs 4000 people in full-time jobs, runs hospitals and clinics, nursing schools, rehabilitation centres and an emergency centre. It has three administrative centres and a pharmaceutical company. This Christian institution provides care for persons from different religions or ethnic origins. YAKKUM employs Muslim doctors, nurses and clerical staff in the administration. Christian and indigenous: Churches and Adat tradition Churches give assistance to people in urban regions, to accommodate the fast transition to modern life. This is because, for a long time, they have taken part in the silent change of the cultural and religious–political reality in Indonesia. An example from a rural region illustrates this fact. The anthropologist Susanne Schröter77 visited East Indonesia – the island of Flores – from 1994 to 2004. She lived in Central Flores with the Ngada, researching on this tribe’s integrative attitude towards traditional religion and the influence of the Catholic faith. 77. The following report deals with indigeneity and Catholicism in Flores, in Schröter (2010b:137–157). 51 Christian spirituality in Indonesia Accompanying Portuguese colonisation, Catholic missionaries were the first Europeans to arrive in the country. Later, people from the Netherlands gained power in Indonesia, leaving the eastern part of the country with a predominantly Catholic influence. Christian missionaries normally had problems with indigenous religious traditions. They were not willing to adapt the implications of indigenous culture to Christian theology and practice. They were convinced of their own tradition’s superiority. Hence, they tended to implement dualistic thinking. Indigenous people themselves had no problems in combining their own myths with the legends of Christian tradition – in this case with the Catholic part. Indigenous people celebrated Catholic ceremonies mainly to share life in the community. They came for liturgical celebrations on Mary’s festival in May, as well as to mourn the passion of Christ, in order to celebrate the community’s life afterwards and to be together. Children were baptised, and they enrolled for courses preparing them for Holy Communion, but at the same time parents were preparing their alliances for later arranged marriages, following indigenous customs. In indigenous syncretism, the coexistence of different traditions and cultures was possible. People had no problem combining the veneration of saints in Catholicism with the veneration of their own ancestors, which is an important part of the Ngada culture. They practice a very special veneration of the ancestors at the beginning of every festival. Before the meeting of the community, they have a meeting in the forest where they visit the ancestors and bring them gifts. Then the three-day festival begins. The Catholic Church in Flores was quite open for the inclusion of indigenous thinking and rituals. The Steyler missionaries for a long time were interested in cultural diversity and anthropological research. A research centre for anthropology and ethnology in Europe in the 19th century was rooted in the engagement of the order of the Steyler missionaries, namely, The Wiener Schule der Ethnologie. 52 Chapter 3 At present, the Catholic Church in Flores is in a vibrant state. It is appreciated by the people in the region as a form of building an identity in contrast to the Muslims. Rituals and traditions (dances) of Adat symbolise an expression of the modern national identity. A Catholic Mass implies different elements, including dances, songs with regional roots, indigenous and biblical stories (Jesus as Lord of Yams, basic nutrition which symbolises devotion to the goddess Sili Ana Wunga). Schröter’s final comment is, ‘at least in this respect they are not passive victims of world history but actors who manage to participate in modernity without losing their roots.’78 The Catholic culture of the people in Flores is not archaic or traditional. New rituals were developed and ancient symbols were assigned to new contexts, depending on whatever social change was required. Franciscus van Lith, a Jesuit in Java Franciscus van Lith was a Jesuit in Java who included indigenous thinking and world views in his work as a missionary. The French professor of Religious History Rémy Madinier79 presents a portrait of this unique personality. The Jesuit order and the private diary of Van Lith give access to Van Lith’s biography. Van Lith was sent to Java, to a region with a predominantly Muslim population. He was almost the first Jesuit to begin with missionary activities in this region. The Jesuit Franz Xavier visited the Islands of the Moluccas between 1546 and 1547. Van Lith was not successful with conversions in the small town of Muntilan in Central Java. But he stayed there, and for many years he had the chance to observe indigenous and Muslim traditions and religious life. And he decided that it would not be 78. Schröter (2010b:157). 79. Madinier (2011:15). 53 Christian spirituality in Indonesia his goal to convert heathens. His only chance to promote the Christian faith was to honour regional emotions, lifestyles, mentalities, without forcing change all at once. Van Lith regarded the Javanese culture and the Adat law to be cultural allies in fighting the influence of Islam, and at the same time he criticised the Protestant mission. Madinier gives examples: The Javanese Christians read their Bible, and outside any restrictive magisterium, draw their own wisdom from the only source of truth, the Holy Scriptures. That is precisely what the missionaries want, you might say, but it ends up being quite different. Those who detect roughly the same message in the Bible, meet in a movement to form a community and a church; it is also natural that the Javanese, who differ so much from Dutch missionaries, always find another message in the Bible, form their own Christian community and avoid integration into Dutch Protestant churches.80 The Protestant missionaries had problems in accepting the indigenous culture, but Van Lith proposed that: [T ]o respect Adat, which he defined as ancestral customs, both religious and others. A successful implementation of Christianity should not cut the new converts from their Javanese roots. […] van Lith agreed to retain part of these customs in order to integrate them into Christian worship. Thus he advocated a cultural acknowledgement of Javanese spirituality in its animist HinduBuddhist (that is not Islamic) dimension. To the use of sacred places and sacred dates for Catholic purposes he soon added the integration of gamelan music during Christian ceremonies, a practice he pioneered. To a certain extent, assimilation of some Hindu divinities into the Christian ritual (such as the suggestion of an equivalence between Dewi Sri and the Virgin Mary) was tolerated.81 80. Van Lith (1922, in Madinier 2011:n.p.). The original version of this manuscript is to be found among the scripts of the library of the Netherlands’ province of the Jesuit order in Nijmegen. A printed version is to be found in a library in Yogyakarta. 81. Madinier (2011:25). 54 Chapter 3 His argument was that if the feelings and beliefs of people are rejected, they would then have to accept foreign ideas and their way of thinking would freeze: In the same line, Van Lith adopted a very pragmatic attitude towards the slametan, these Javanese traditional religious ceremonial meals during which prayers for the ancestral spirits of a village were pronounced. In terms of missionary work, a frontal opposition to such a practice was tantamount to freezing the hearts and could definitely undermine any effort of Christianization.82 Madinier’s research about Van Lith is very detailed. One of his impressions was that: Van Lith later portrayed himself during his first years in Munitlan as roaming the surrounding countryside on his bicycle, trying to establish a broad but respectful dialogue with many spiritual leaders. Leaving to others […] the classic Western hurry-to-save-souls missionary posture, he adopted that of a guru ngelmu, even going so far as to condone his spiritual relationship with the Javanese being inscribed in a decidedly un-Catholic conception of time.83 Important for this study is that Van Lith was able to reflect and practice parts of Spiritual Counselling. He did not impose his own thinking and feeling on a formal scale of teachings for the indigenous people. Instead, he opened spaces for a form of ‘Christian contribution […] as one element among others in an inclusive Javanese spirituality.’84 Reconciliation processes after violence In the Moluccas, there was a civil war between Christians and Muslims from 1999 to 2002. The political situation in the whole country was moving towards decentralisation, as opposed to the centralisation found during the Soeharto era. People from several 82. Madinier (2011:26). 83. Madinier (2011:26). 84. Interpretation of Rémy Madinier (2011:27). 55 Christian spirituality in Indonesia parts of the country regarded this to be a starting point to eventually achieve regional independence from the central government. The Moluccas were part of this movement. Here, tensions between Christians and Muslims were quite strong: Whereas Islam came as a peaceful concomitant of trade and had already established itself in various parts of Central Maluku in the late fifteenth century, Christianity was forcefully imposed on the Moluccan population by colonial powers – Catholicism by the Portuguese (1512) and Protestantism by the Dutch (1599). In contrast to the antagonism between Christianity and Adat, Islam entered a fusion between local Adat and a strong overlap, if not congruity, occurred between Adat and religious functionaries.85 Jon Goss86 describes the conflict from 1999 to 2002. Historical reasons were one aspect, but concerning the state of Islam, the recent influence of Saudi Arabia had to be considered as predominant for the whole country. Radical Islamist powers fuelled fast escalations of violence in the entire province. Mostly young people were involved: We still know very little about the experience of violence in the socalled Maluku Wars of 1999 to 2002, much less about the individual motivations that led to such sustained and intense violence between neighbouring communities of Muslims and Christians. Nevertheless, since the beginnings of the communal violence, observers have speculated on the conditions that might have produced sufficiently intense feelings of insecurity and resentment among residents of Maluku, and the political interests that might have cultivated and directed them towards a religious Other […] organized provocation by strategic players at the national level; the increase in sectarian politics during the collapse of the New Order regime and subsequent political reforms; intensification of socio-economic competition between immigrants and indigenous populations following the economic crisis of 1997; and the deepening of religiosity under conditions of uncertainty associated generally with globalization and more specifically with the national political transition and economic crisis in Indonesia, as well as rumor and conspiracy theories that abound during the break down of the social order.87 85. Bräuchler (2015:74). 86. Jon Goss is a professor of geography at the University of Hawaí’i in Honolulu. 87. Goss (2000:12). 56 Chapter 3 A conflict occurred on 19 January 1999, between a bus driver and a pedestrian, in the regional capital Ambon. Soon after this event, riots erupted in the whole country. Around 5000 – 9000 people were killed, 300 000 – 700 000 people lost their homes and 29 000 private houses and several hundred churches and mosques were destroyed. During the civil war, parts of the population were moved to other parts of the country. They lived in camps as internally displaced persons. After several years the government sent them back, and reconciliation processes were started in their home region. This was aimed at renewed convenience. Examples for those processes were taken from peace negotiations in other parts of the world. With regard to the political situation and the multi-religious society, ‘reconciliation’ should not primarily be seen as a word of Christian origin and virtue. It should be a chance for the entire population to start with new contacts and new forms of communal life, rooted in indigenous culture and traditions. Goss is a little bit apprehensive of the success of those efforts, but he regards them to be a small part of a larger solution for the multitude of social problems: The shifting ethno-religious balance, as well as the reforms of village administration in 1979, the modernization of protestant Christianity (especially the elimination of ancestor worship), the purification of Islam under the influence of the Muhammadiyah movement, and the general expansion of education opportunities, have also contributed to the progressive undermining of traditional authority structures in Maluku, and especially the pela relationships of the Ambonese culture area […]). Pela is a ceremonial alliance between villages, which establishes mutual obligations to assist in times of crisis and in communal projects such as the construction and repair of church and mosque.88 Goss considered that the political expectations would solve social problems by Adat law, but he found the idea of culture as the solution for peacemaking a bit too romantic. He asked for an ethnographic description of the subject. 88. Goss (2000:21). 57 Christian spirituality in Indonesia The ethnologist Birgit Bräuchler has described the process of mutual aid coming from Adat law and tradition.89 She explored to what degree the cultural turn is important for the entire Indonesian society. The rather new turn to indigenous traditions is a topic that needs to be given increasing attention for peace research and negotiations about peace. In traditional law, justice has the goal to restore a destroyed local community. It is not so much about retaliation than it is about retribution. In fact, it is difficult to practice such a law. Bräuchler introduced a video at the Goethe Universität in Frankfurt, Main, showing the centre of a village in the Moluccas. People were busy with retributive peace negotiations. A participant was asked to give his comment about violence in the village during the time of war, and how he was involved. The idea was to lead him to confess, and this confession should help to cleanse the moral atmosphere between him and the victims. On the other hand, he was informed that his deeds could possibly result in a trial by public law, and that he could be jailed for confessing them. This greatly confused the participant, and he was searching for very contradictory and difficult arguments to find a way to return to his village.90 Adat law in Indonesia is older than Christianity and Islam, and because of that, the status of regional indigenous leaders can be strengthened – like a chief (Ratu). The strength of indigenous leaders has a positive effect when it leads to the reduction of tensions between Christians and Muslims. Family and tribe relations are strong and reliable, and people normally tend to live in peaceful private relationships, especially when they belong to different religions. The conflicts between religions are fuelled by politics. Whether the rethinking of indigenous tradition and practice may lead to a solution of the current social problems, remains an open question. Bräuchler suggests: One of the questions concerning the flexibility of cultural traditions is how far one can bend them before they break. In order to meet social 89. Bräuchler (2015). 90. Bräuchler and Stange (2014). 58 Chapter 3 realities of a post-conflict and decentralizing society and to prevent a one-sided traditionalizing of society that excludes migrants, not only local structures but also political frameworks need to be adapted. The main argument with regard to justice is that in post-conflict setting such as in Maluku a broader kind of justice needs to be applied. Whereas retributive justice may be a solution for the wire pullers behind the conflict, it is no solution for the population at large, where lines between victims and perpetrators are blurred or non-existent. What Moluccan society needs is a justice that balances traditional injustices that go beyond the conflict.91 The revitalisation of Adat and modern theological interpretations – like postcolonial thinking – may provide a chance to transform the Indonesian society. An ongoing reconciliation process after several phases of authoritarian regimes and regional civil wars may come into existence. Decentralisation may help to imply Pancasila in the Indonesian state as a voluntarily chosen, not mainly politically, imposed element. New interpretations of Islam in Indonesia tend to be open to some aspects of modernity, mainly to technology. With this in mind, the stabilisation of society will not contradict ancient traditions. It may improve the unity of the country when mixing a modern lifestyle with traditional customs. This is at least one possible option. 91. Bräuchler (2015:181). 59 Chapter 4 Transformations in Asia’s spirituality and Spiritual Counselling Asia’s spirituality can be defined as the spirituality of different religions in a rapidly changing Asian cultural diversity. Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism contribute to it. Methods of Spiritual Counselling can assist. Peter Powell’s lecture92 illustrates Spiritual Counselling in Asia as an imported method, with Asian impulses. ‘Formation of the human heart’ was the title of the 8th APCPCC Conference. Focussing on Boisen’s93 impetus that religion can accompany custom and crisis, Powell regards Buddhism as a religion that has a strong focus on the maintaining of tradition. This function of religion seems to be fascinating for Powell, and he regards it to be characteristic of South East Asian culture. For him, 92. See Chapter 1 of this book. 93. Boisen (1945). How to cite: Elsdörfer, U., 2019, ‘Transformations in Asia’s spirituality and Spiritual Counselling’, in Spirituality in diversity: South East Asia meets South Africa Towards a global view of Spiritual Counselling, 2nd edn., pp. 61–96, AOSIS, Cape Town. https://doi.org/10.4102/ aosis.2019.BK156.04 61 Transformations in Asia’s spirituality and Spiritual Counselling this stabilising function seems to be a counterpart to crisis experiences in Western Pastoral Care and Counselling. Encountering Buddhism for Powell seems to have a special impact, namely, a sense of identification with a fellowship. According to Powell, spirituality only has a chance to grow if it contains a desire for healing. Spiritual Care and Counselling in Asia is a ‘spiritual formation’. Powell defines the goal of CPE to be an interplay between formation and transformation.94 At the 10th APCPCC Conference in Sendai, in Japan, an important contribution to the global awareness of the current situation of Pastoral Care and Counselling was given by Bruce Rumbold.95 He informed about the chances of chaplains from Australia and New Zealand to access hospitals and to visit patients. The importance of religion as ‘civil religion’ has strongly diminished during the past years. It tends to be difficult to work as a chaplain in a public hospital. The hospital has no obligation to grant access to counsellors. Besides that, it is not enough to provide religiously motivated counselling only for patients. Rumbold proposes Spiritual Care and Counselling for institutions in healthcare sectors. The spiritual aspect accompanying a medical treatment is based on a holistic approach. It can lead away from the former particularisation of healthcare and may be of assistance even for the staff at the hospital: Contemporary interest in spiritual assessment is indicative both of changing attitudes to spirituality and religion in society and changed patterns of care within healthcare systems. These changes have profound implications for healthcare chaplaincy, affecting how chaplains relate to patients, colleagues and communities, what they are expected to know, and how their work is organised. In particular, becoming partners in Spiritual Care provision alongside practitioners from a range of other healthcare disciplines leads to new challenges and new opportunities. One of the challenges is learning to work with the rather different ways spirituality is conceptualised and assessed in contemporary healthcare discourse. Opportunities include using the 94. Powell (2005). 95. Bruce Rumbold, director of Palliative Care Unit, emeritus, LaTrobe University, Australia. 62 Chapter 4 new partnerships to expand the horizons of healthcare conversations about spirituality and to give feedback to those concerned with spiritual formation in the community about the effectiveness of their work in developing people’s resilience in the face of finitude, illness and loss.96 This text may illustrate the diversity of interpretations on the chances of Spiritual Counselling and its practice in different regions of the Asia-Pacific region. In several countries, Christianity or other religions lose influence in the societies, whereas in other countries some religions gain new strength – especially some fundamental interpretations of Islam. Educational programmes in Spiritual Counselling are various and differ a lot in the churches and religions in the South East Asian region. The Philippines have the longest tradition with their seminary in Manila of CPE. The UTC in Bangalore, India, has been training chaplains in hospitals and pastors of parishes for decades; other CPE training takes place at other universities belonging to different Christian denominations in India. In the past decades, continuous efforts were made to integrate Spiritual Counselling in the religious practice of some South East Asian countries – Indonesia and Malaysia belong to them. Indonesia is broadly analysed and is the focus of this research. Since the 1990s, CPE has been taught in Indonesia, and Spiritual Counselling was practised in Christian hospitals. The Jakarta Theological Seminary has a lecturer for Spiritual Counselling, but it seems that there is no continuous education in Spiritual Counselling. Until now, CPE candidates have been receiving their training and certificates from the Asian Center for CPE Education in Manila. Of late, a recently certified pastor has established a CPE in the Jakarta Cikini Christian hospital. She and her colleague even think of taking Muslim volunteers into an interreligious programme for Spiritual Counselling education in Jakarta. 96. Rumbold (2013:n.p.). 63 Transformations in Asia’s spirituality and Spiritual Counselling Many questions remain open when the recent transformations of the theory and practice of Spiritual Counselling in South Asia are looked at. Answers have to be generated during a process of development, of trial and error. The regions change very fast, in social and economic respects. Religions lose and gain importance. They do not always follow the line to stabilise the societies and their democratic developments. Some of the following questions may lead to the current challenges, focussed on Indonesia: 1. In what way is Christian spirituality in Indonesia implying Adat tradition? 2. Which parts of Christianity are useful, which parts can help to understand and improve the situation of marginalised people? 3. Which part includes emancipating aspects? 4. What role does the economy play when regarding cultural and religious aspects in marginalised societies? 5. What anthropological insights may clarify and meet the goal of empowering the local culture? 6. How is it possible to reduce the political and social contradictions in the archipelago’s society? What is the special offer that Spiritual Counselling provides? During the millennium, many people in Indonesia were migrants because of violent conflicts. However, in the 21st century, the situation calmed down. With reconciliation negotiations, the need for professional counselling skills increased. Since 2005, the reconstruction of a democratic society of multi-ethnic and multi-religious groups meant that spiritual counsellors were appreciated and their studies were supported. Trauma counselling was effective in the aftermath of violence.97 Protestant churches and their pastors increasingly regarded themselves to be social caseworkers with theological knowledge and practical skills by providing spiritual assistance. Sometimes they also functioned as mediators.98 97. Lakawa (2011). 98. Seo (2013:44ff.). 64 Chapter 4 The Christian churches employed pastors, pendetas and mainly volunteers as parish leaders and teachers. There are 210 schools that offer religious and theological instructions. Church and state have universities with Christian faculties, and some pastors have a qualification in pastoral psychology. A few of them were already studying programmes for Pastoral Care and Counselling in the 1990s. Here the name of the Protestant pastor Marudut Manalu comes to mind. During the 1990s, he cooperated with supervisors from different countries – the USA, Tanzania – at the Cikini Hospital. Manalus’s colleague and later bishop Edison Munthe was quite amenable to this programme, as well as the Protestant theologian Daniel Susanto. In 1999, he presented his dissertation on CPE in Indonesia.99 The Indonesian Association for Pastoral Psychology was founded at the beginning of the 1990s. Susanto was chair of the association until September 2017:100 Since 1991, the year of Indonesian Pastoral Association (API) being established, API has been called since to tackle pastoral care ministry in Indonesia. It also served the broad demand of the community within the area of Indonesia with its main spirit that the Mighty Love God given through His Son had meant the salvation for the world. It had served the Just [sic] and Righteousness [sic] of God in creating peace and prosperity. The agents of pastoral [sic] in Indonesia, believed in heart and love of Jesus Christ, carry themselves within the society and nation of Indonesia to create peace and prosperity within the boundary of God’s compassion for us and adhere to the only truth source of the Bible. These agents had come to an agreement to develop their knowledge and profession further in part of pastoral ministry by develop human resource as a whole in order to gain peace and prosperous society, just and wealthy based on our nation basic core and law of 1945.101 The Indonesian Pastoral Association (API) introduced its work and concept at the 11th Congress of APCPCC in Jakarta in September 2017. The subject of the conference was ‘Pastoral ministry and violence’. 99. Susanto (1999). 100. I do not have any information about the beginning of Susanto’s term. 101. Elsdörfer (2018:n.p.). 65 Transformations in Asia’s spirituality and Spiritual Counselling Members of the API are theologians. They are trained in various methods and skills within the field of psychology – coaching is a very modern method. Busur Emas introduced the method of coaching at the 11th APCPCC Conference in Jakarta in 2017. In her eyes, this method is useful to find clues for future developments. Coaching as a method is based on an encounter, and it attributes a lot of importance to the will to change.102 There is still CPE training. In Manila, the supervisor is an Indonesian pastor, and she offers training in Jakarta – as explained later in this chapter. The intensity of former times in practising pastoral psychology seems to be reduced. The two women pastors Mercy Annah Saragih and Hennie Wattimena103 are again working with their skills as supervisors. They again started a programme for CPE for Indonesian pastors and social workers. Potential avenues for carrying out the programme include the Cikini Hospital in Jakarta, the training of theology students, or even freelance counselling. A new Association for Spiritual Counselling was founded in 2015, the Indonesian Association for Clinical Pastoral Education. Qualifications are important, as there is great expectation concerning positive results in political and social spheres. Counselling work may help promote encounters between the religions in order to speed up reconciliation processes and in order to give Pancasila new importance and strength for the future for peaceful convenience of cultures in Indonesia. Muslims are required to contribute to a peaceful future as well. Some concepts of counselling are newly developed by Christian theologians. Hennie Wattimena studies the inclusion of indigenous counselling concepts in her own country. 102. Emas (2017). 103. Pastor Mercy Saragih, Jakarta and Pastor Hennie Wattimena, Indonesia and Maryland, the United States. 66 Chapter 4 Mercy Anna Saragih finished her training as a supervisor in Manila in 2017. Her goal to work within the field of hospital care in Jakarta is mentioned above. The following interview 104 with her shows that even an ecumenical Christian exchange and encounter shows dimensions of hope for closer encounters in the future: U: M., I am very interested in your work and in your current success in finishing your studies for supervisor. M: If I pass the panel next month, I’ll be Acting Supervisor. Most of my training I took here in the Philippines and with Roman Catholic priests, seminarians and religious sisters. We don’t have yet CPE Supervisors in Indonesia. So, I came here hopefully [sic] and I dream of training CPE interfaith in Indonesia. This made me come to ICPCC in last October. I am happy to meet and discuss with K.A. the Muslim CPE. U: I am very much interested in your informations – I’ll approach you again with more details, if you don’t mind giving some insights. It would be very interesting for me to know more about the Catholic institution in Manila […] thank you very much for the first exchange! And good luck with all your efforts in this case. M: You are right, for me as a Protestant there is some surprise in the first group with seminarians.105 In a second discourse, she explains her own future plans and visions: Dear […] U., How are you? Hopefully you are fine, healthy and happy. After I finished my CAB and am now a CPE Supervisor, I went to Sumba East Timor to give introduction in CPE to pastors of The Christian Church of Sumba (GKS106) and I also gave a weekend seminar for doctors, nurses and the staff of Lindimara hospital. Its church hospital was built by first missionaries who came from The [sic] Netherlands in 1907. I stayed there for a week. Then when 104. M.A. Saragih pers. comm., 15 March 2017. 105. M.A. Saragih pers. comm., 15 March 2017. 106. GKS – Geraja Kristen Simalungun, see Chapter 4.1.1. 67 Transformations in Asia’s spirituality and Spiritual Counselling coming back I and the team Pastoral of GKPS held the seminar about Pastoral Ministry to the Sunday School for Sunday school teachers. Now I’m in Manila Philippines at NKTI for Supervisee CPE. They are 10 students 9 seminarians and a nun. Three came from China, 2 came from Thailand, 4 from the Philippines and a nun came from Korea. Some of them will be ordained priests after finishing CPE and come back to their country. Peter Lichun Dong, a Chinese and a Missionary of the Society of St Columban came from Chile after 2 years there for mission. He came to Philippines for CPE. Here his experience was to visit and ministry to the patients. He asked a patient, after talking to him, ‘what would you like me to pray for?’ The patient said, ‘pray for the bill to become smaller’ (he showed his two fingers with a small position). The priest said: ‘I will. It is really important for us and I think, the most important thing is that you are healed now.’ The patient said: ‘Yes.’ Then they were praying. In the Chaplain’s analysis, he wrote: ‘I felt happy when he told me that his operation was successful but when he asks me to ask God to make the bill smaller I felt weak and useless.’ I was laughing when I read his 2nd verbatim. I thank God for this opportunity. Talking about the CPE in Indonesia is challenging, and I am optimistic The time and funds are part problems but there are benefits for growth, productive ministry, awareness. Aufklärung of the person is more precious. But I really need to introduce CPE more, and I am looking forward for the Indonesian context to the opportunity to make CPE interfaith one day.107 Spiritual counselling in Indonesia The history of Spiritual Counselling in Indonesia began in the 1990s, and it was succeeded by various developments. 107. M.A. Saragih pers. comm., 12 September 2017. 68 Chapter 4 Clinical Pastoral Education in the 1990s The Society for Intercultural Pastoral Care and Counselling (SIPCC)108 is a German-based group established in 1995. With many shifts in their work, SIPCC meets annually for seminars on intercultural and interreligious counselling. My report is from quite an early period of its establishment. Guests from Indonesia were present in nearly every seminar. Spiritual Counselling was already introduced in Indonesia by guest supervisors from different countries, in cooperation with pastor Marudut Manalu from the Cikini Hospital in Jakarta. The president of SIPCC, Helmut Weiß, started a CPE training in Indonesia in 2001. Based on earlier contacts with the Rheinische Mission, he knew pastors in Indonesia. His detailed report on the CPE course is interesting in this context, especially concerning the impacts of cultural differences between him and the students, as well as between the members of the student group. Weiß met a pastor who was already serving a congregation. But he felt unhappy with the situation he found himself in, as he realised that people did not feel at home with the liturgy and music, their heart and soul was not in these services. The young pastor wanted to change the music. He opted for music, according to the tradition and culture of his country. At last, he decided to study music. Weiß reported that: I am in a country, where people think differently from my country, from Europe […] Islam is present – we hear the texts and music from the Mosque, when calling for prayer. Streets are filled with people who expect to get an access to the Hajto Mekka. I am curious what the Christian colleagues will tell me about that.109 Later, Weiß found out that the students provided no comments on Islam; the members of his course were shy when asked to comment on their encounter with Islam. Sometimes they touched on it with a remark, but it was never the main item. He suggested that the 108. Society for Intercultural Pastoral Care and Counselling (n.d.). 109. Weiß (2002:9). 69 Transformations in Asia’s spirituality and Spiritual Counselling training was for the Christians and their identity in Indonesia – and even they are of a diverse cultural background and mentality. An emotional confrontation with Islam was not desired. Weiß suggested that Islam may represent a hidden danger for the Christians. There are some hints on encounters of the Christian pastors with Muslims, and these Muslim people were described as friendly and patient (Adat Islam). Some Christians perceived themselves as being more introverted (Batak culture), but this varied from region to region. The Batak tribe has Muslim members as well as polytheists, who stick to indigenous traditions. Faith in spirits can be noticed quite often, and the veneration of ancestors and the respect for their wishes is widespread among the Christians in the Batak region (Karo Batak). Batak Christians were introduced earlier in this study when the situation of women was described. The Protestant church of the Simalungun chaired the CPE training. The church is going back to the work of the Rheinische Mission in 1903, when the chiefs of the region gave their consent for mission work to be carried out. The Simalungun church became independent in 1963. Before that, it belonged to the Toba church. Gereja Kristen Protestant Simalungun is a member of the Indonesian Community of Churches and of different global Protestant communities. Weiß trained men and women – female and male pastors and women working in various levels of education. People introduced themselves to their colleagues by talking about their profession, about their children and siblings, but they never spoke of their spouses. Weiß reflected on social hierarchies or limitations because of shame, and he gained new insights into cultural differences. The position in the family hierarchy is important, as only the oldest son is responsible for taking care of his parents when they grow old, and his wife is included in this duty. It is important to know who has to pay tribute to whom, who has to serve at the table and what is served by which person (fish or meat). Weiß tells a story about clan connections. A young Indonesian pastor suffered from a skin disease when he was 70 Chapter 4 a child. The doctors could not cure him, so he was sent to a healer. The healer found out that the family had a broken connection with the ancestors, but he believed that this could easily be cured. The healer wrapped this boy in a big blanket, and he placed a knife in the boy’s hand. No words were spoken in this ceremony (the outcome of this indigenous ceremony remains unclear). Weiß himself subjected to such a ritual when being welcomed to the clan of a befriended pastor. I proceed with a description of the subjects of the CPE training: 1. disease and dying 2. family problems – preparing for retirement – Spiritual Care with elderly persons 3. youths and their problems and violence 4. occultism 5. addiction to alcohol, drugs, games or gambling and narcotics 6. adat, tradition and modern forms 7. poverty and economic conflicts 8. conflicts in the parish. The students expressed their fears because of the social instability in the country. There were various complaints about the entire situation at the beginning of Reformasi. Everything would take a turn for the worse, and the lack of transparency frightened people. Others found that the experiences resembled those of the New Order: John tells what he has learned for himself and for his practice of Spiritual Counselling: He learned to trust more. But this will lead to a complicated practice in Indonesia, where there is much mistrust in church and society.110 Experiences with the veneration of ancestors are subjects of many verbatims111 of the students and discussions in the group. 110. Weiß (2002:10). 111. A Verbatim is a basic tool of pastoral education – a theological reflection paper or case presentation in which clinical pastoral education students write about incidents from their fieldwork, mirroring the communication students had as counsellors. 71 Transformations in Asia’s spirituality and Spiritual Counselling Occultism is still practised today, even in the Christian congregations. People visit dead persons, believing that they know about special days and places that bring bad luck. Presbyters visit graves of ancestors in order to seek advice. All this is embarrassing for the European trainer. The members of the study group show emotions that seem to be different from the European expectations; they laugh or shy away at moments which the Europeans do not regard to be appropriate and the trainer does not understand why. Their laughing sometimes seems to express emotional uncertainty. Weiß gives a detailed report showing the risks and uncertainties of the whole project of spiritual training for people from a different culture. He doubts whether he can reach the goal to improve the self-esteem of his students. They are so deeply connected to the collective behaviour, and they do not accept European individualism. Weiß commented: After the session I very strongly feel the limitation of my concept: to strengthen the individual personality. People are so deeply dependent on each other and the trainer. How can I change this? How can I improve self-reflection in such a cultural context? Our experiences are so very different – this is painful for me and for the members of the group as well. I have no solution to overcome that. I think it is difficult to write about it. My words and sentences used here do not reflect what I feel and what I want to express.112 Weiß’ report is from 2001, soon after the beginning of the political liberalisation in Indonesia, and it describes a period of violent tensions between Muslims and Christians in several regions of the country. Weiß mentioned that the ‘one’ inherent problem of Spiritual Counselling in Indonesia was cultural diversity. The Western style of thinking, rationality coming with technology, science and economy, is important. But the entire population is rooted in their indigenous cultural heritage, which has to be considered when the people are approached. There must be a chance to develop 112. Weiß (2002:37). 72 Chapter 4 trust in each other and, in the case of training, trust in the trainer, in the group and in every single member. Everyday encounters may lead to surprises and misunderstandings. It is necessary to learn from them in order to improve their understanding. Western lifestyle and modernity are part of the Indonesian society, as are religions. They compete to be accepted and appreciated in public life. They are rooted in indigenous traditions and their cultural regions. Religions coming from outside – like Islam and Christianity – bring their cultural heritage to the country. Most of the conflicts arise from social antagonisms and from various indigenous traditions in contrast to modern lifestyles. People have to deal with global challenges, and indigenous people are forced to mediate between the different mentalities which they have either inherited or were trained in for practice in modern life. Most conflicts are about different identities and the negotiations about them. If these inner negotiations fail, people develop emotions of hatred, fear, sadness – they feel marginalised. Establishing training sessions in Spiritual Care requires a lot of sensitivity. This is the case especially when the supervisor is a member of a foreign culture – a European or an American. Nevertheless, Spiritual Counselling may have an impact on the development of social peace within the multi-cultural and multireligious country. It supports the identity of pastors and volunteers in fulfilling their profession and in strengthening their community. Weiß reports that most of the sessions were filled with biblical citations. Paul and other biblical authors’ texts were compared to the current life of the students, and the Bible was taken as a foundation for advice in daily life. In this special manner, Christian and indigenous religious practice come close to Islamic piety. Citations from the Koran and Hadiths, stories about the prophet Muhammad’s life, are regarded as helpful for advice in the daily life of the followers. Methods of indigenous counselling can assist to come closer to the traditions and worlds of Indonesian students for Spiritual Counselling. 73 Transformations in Asia’s spirituality and Spiritual Counselling Clinical Pastoral Education training for supervisors, completed in 2017 Pastor Mercy Anna Saragih talks about her CPE training. She finished it in 2017 in Manila with the AACPE. She and her colleague Marudut Manalu from Jakarta informed about former CPE training at the Christian Cikini Hospital in Jakarta, a hospital with a 120-year tradition. Cikini Hospital employs two Protestant pastors, Treisje Mambo and Marudut Manalu, and volunteers for counselling. A Catholic priest joins the group from time to time when he visits his patients. Muslim patients are taken care of by their own community. Since 2005, training was given by various trainers who came from the Philippines, from the USA, and from Tanzania. Saragih was a participant of one of the courses, but she did not complete her training in Jakarta; instead, she did her training between 2013 and 2017 in Manila in the Philippines. Saragih hopes to have a chance of establishing CPE training at the Cikini Hospital in Jakarta as an institution and in Indonesia, as she has already worked there since 2014. She worked as acting supervisor113 of volunteers and in the training of pastors, and she was successful. In 2016, she started to cooperate with the Indonesian Christian Association for Health Services (ICAHS) – the Indonesian Health Service. In 2016, she had seven students in CPE – five were hospital chaplains, one nurse and a parish pastor. Saragih looks forward to stable cooperation with the ICAHS and to an enduring chance to teach CPE at the Cikini Hospital. She wants to commit herself to that. In the long run, she even considers the possibility of having Muslim students in her courses as well. Interreligious training in Spiritual Counselling is presently only a vision, but it should be considered. Saragih gives a detailed insight into the system of CPE training – concerning the hierarchy of training standards as well as the processes of the course. Her students present results of 113. A special grade in the training. 74 Chapter 4 their learning sessions with Saragih as the acting supervisor. Hopefully, these insights may help to clarify the current situation of Spiritual Counselling education in the greater realm of South East Asia.114 The training to qualify as a supervisor for the CPE takes a lot of time. The training system includes several steps before attaining acceptance as a supervisor. The CPE system has no unique global standard. Certificates imply different standards. Practical preconditions for the training, such as a year of work as a pastor in a hospital, have to be fulfilled. These are short training sessions in order to prepare the candidates for a special sensitivity in listening. Each training session is combined with a practical session, a visit to a hospital. Students can attend their first training sessions, and if they do not want to complete the whole programme, they will get a certificate for an introductory course of CPE. Some of the comments cited below show insights from these pre-studies mentioned above (e.g. being a pastor in a hospital). Sometimes, students who have finished the pre-course give the impression that they already understand everything about Spiritual Counselling. Training sessions of about 10 weeks each, over three different years, complete the entire programme to be certified as acting supervisor (first step) and later on as supervisor. Saragih reports this from her training in Manila, and she wants to introduce these standards to Indonesia, Cikini and the future CPE programme. The practice of CPE requires written reports by the students on the successes and developments of their training. Parts of the insights are presented here. Students give their impressions, their growing knowledge of psychology, and they show their spiritual development. One important quality to be learnt – mostly from scratch – is to listen: Before the CPE program, I already had a one-year apostolate in San Lazaro Hospital, and I thought I already knew enough. I thought I would be having the same experiences. However, the more that I do 114. Mercy Annah Saragih is a trainer for students from a wider region of Southeast Asia. 75 Transformations in Asia’s spirituality and Spiritual Counselling my patient visitation here in this Institution, I realize there are a lot of things which I still don’t know and I need to learn. One good thing that I really learned from this program is the importance of listening, and not just listening, but listening with all my heart and mind. Before, I tend to talk more, perhaps because of my desire to help the patient. But before I could do the listening, I really had to develop the virtues of patience and humility.115 Pastors working in parishes normally are not trained in listening. They are used to speak and to act and to be leaders. This requires special skills. Mostly, these skills are not combined with the passive virtue of sitting and listening. The shift from ‘speaking’ to ‘listening’ is difficult. It represents a shift in selfunderstanding and identity aspects of the profession and personality: It’s difficult not to talk, at least for me, since I am a person who loves to talk. I just realized that sometimes, or most of the time, all the person needs is a listening ear and heart. Through listening alone, the pastoral needs of some patients could already be met.116 New insights into old knowledge are gained, and the virtue of patience and wisdom is considered again, not only as an ethical demand but also as a vivid practice: Another important progress is my ability to understand the patient better and be able to share some words of wisdom if necessary. Through listening, when I really give my whole self to the ministry, I could somehow find it easy to understand what the patient is undergoing. From there, I could challenge the patient well and try to allow him/her to see the reality and not escape it.117 Such training means that a pastor or counsellor is not forced into the role of a 24-h helper. Being inactive, being confronted to exhausting situations, being at one’s own limits of empathy – all this can be encountered, can be reflected. Facing such situations 115. M.A. Saragih pers. comm., 11 June 2016. This and the following citations belong to a series of evaluations given by M.A. Saragih, from her CPE training in 2016, sent to the author via email on 11 June 2016. 116. M.A. Saragih pers. comm., 11 June 2016. 117. M.A. Saragih pers. comm., 11 June 2016. 76 Chapter 4 can be taught. It has to be implied in the pastor’s identity as a theologian and a person who conveys faith to others: In as much as I want to help a person, or be relevant to him/her, I always realize that I cannot do everything for them; that I am only as human as they are. I have my own share of strengths, but there are also things which I am not capable of doing. I feel this every time I want to help someone but also realize that I can’t do everything. When I feel this, I just spend some time to pray and let God do the rest. I now become more understanding of my own limitations, and feel not upset or disappointed anymore when there is nothing I can do. I feel that despite of me being an ordinary person, God can still work through me. Every time I extend a loving hand to someone, or just merely listen, I realize that God is accomplishing something through me. It’s not my work, but God’s.118 To handle helplessness, to realise the limits of engagement and to use them adequately are further steps in this programme: I realize and I arrive at this insight every time I visit and talk with patients. I see my true self especially when I am with the suffering person, in this case with the patient. Listening and knowing about the life of other people, especially when they share their pains, makes me the kind of person who feels what these people feel. I could step into their shoes and be able to be one with them. I feel that we belong to the same experience. Being able to enter the person’s life is for me a goodness which is innate in every one of us. I see myself always wanting to listen to other peoples’ lives and at the same time always wanting to be of help and to be of relevance in any way I can. As a means of translating this insight into my behavior, I feel that I am becoming more sensitive to the feelings of others, and always empathetic to their situation. I always also tend to share with them my own stories and also share with them some of the wisdom that I have learned from my life’s experiences.119 Sensitive communication is to be aware of one’s own emotions, to listen to one’s sources and resources. This changes the former self-awareness: The most significant experience for me in the CPE is the ability to communicate with the patients effectively by developing my confidence with myself in spite of my vocal chords disorder.120 118. M.A. Saragih pers. comm., 11 June 2016. 119. M.A. Saragih pers. comm., 11 June 2016. 120. M.A. Saragih pers. comm., 11 June 2016. 77 Transformations in Asia’s spirituality and Spiritual Counselling Self-awareness of being a theologian may change the ‘calling’ for the profession may have a new emphasis: Through the CPE program, I am able to reconcile my own issues about this and realize that to be an effective minister, it must come from the heart and not from our voice per se. Our personality and presence to the patient and our desire to help them in their suffering is the most significant aspect of this ministry. When I hear that I somehow relieved the patient of their suffering because of my CPE, I am able to dig deeper on the feelings of the patient. I am able to understand that every word the patient utters has a significant part of their being which needs to be given attention or emphasis. I am able to use the significance of psychology to go deeper into the situation of the patient and try to reconcile their journey to life. I am also able to have a stability of emotion in order to guide the patient and not to be affected or driven much by how they feel. Instead, this stability of the emotion helps me to think objectively about the patient […] I feel affirmed about my work and I am happy about it. […] CPE is not just learning a skill on how to minister others (patients and peers) and ourselves. It is also learning how to build a relationship with God, self and others (Patients and peers). That is why I am very fortunate and thankful because we’ve been together in this journey.121 Cultural horizons widen: CPE program widens the mind to see things from many, if not all, different perspectives. It builds up the mentality to form a sound judgment. Especially during the group discussion, the same issue is discussed by different persons from different cultures, values, educations, and angles. That is why it widens the mind and builds up the mentality. The issue is only discussed and analyzed, but not in a hurry to give a judgment. One of the forms is also revealed clearly by our paper works, questions and answers during the processing. In one way or another, we can say that CPE focuses on the emotion. We not only pay attention to our own emotions, but also the emotions and feelings of the patients and their watchers, hopefully we can offer them a better ministry. 122 121. M.A. Saragih pers. comm., 11 June 2016. 122. M.A. Saragih pers. comm., 11 June 2016. 78 Chapter 4 Compassion and awareness improve, and awareness of emotions becomes an important aspect of communication: The feelings are the most frequently asked questions, no matter in the processing or patient visitations. We pay attention to our own feelings, so that we may control our own feelings, do not let it prevent us for the better ministry; we pay attention to the feelings of patients, so that we may also get to know the reasons what cause such feelings, so that to help them to face these feelings. Listening to members and answering their questions also helps us grow emotionally.123 The leader takes part in the process of improving awareness and sensitivity – she is involved in the ongoing process with her students, and she acts somehow as a midwife to new communication, to other people, to new insights, to theology and to a calling: You symbolize a light. You faithfully light our way that we could find who we truly are. In your light, we find our ways that has been lost for many many years with all the pain and hurt and just did not know how to get away from it. Now that we have found healing, life looks more beautiful and meaningful in the life that God has given. We now know even when we walk in the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. We can see God is with us. So you are the light God sent to us and lead us to His right way. God bless you. 124 The last comment can be read as an evaluation of the chances CPE training provides: The counsellor should be able to understand that every word that the patient utters has a significant part of their being which needs to be given attention or emphasis. I am able to use the significance of psychology to go deeper into the situation of the patient and try to reconcile their journey to life. I am also able to have a stability of emotion in order to guide the patient and not to be affected or driven much by how they feel. Instead, this stability of the emotion helps me to think objectively about the patient.125 123. M.A. Saragih pers. comm., 11 June 2016. 124. M.A. Saragih pers. comm., 11 June 2016. 125. M.A. Saragih pers. comm., 11 June 2016. 79 Transformations in Asia’s spirituality and Spiritual Counselling Clinical Pastoral Education is one method of Spiritual Counselling. Clinical Pastoral Education is a positive method of learning and encountering within the special realm of working in a hospital, with disabled persons – in general in the social work of the churches. Clinical Pastoral Education provides a positive space for the self-awareness and self-development of pastors and theologians or spiritual counsellors. The qualities of CPE training lie in the connection between theological and psychological subjects. A historical connection between CPE and churches may be helpful in this case. Clinical Pastoral Education can improve the spiritual development of churches and congregations – as long as students are impressed by the spiritual aspects implied in the study group of a faith community. They feel enabled to continue with the spiritual atmosphere to other places in their congregations. Such an atmosphere is demonstrated by the two final statements by students from the Cikini Hospital in Jakarta in 2014. The reports mainly concern spiritual awareness. Students show their position as believers when describing the function of the leader: [The] symbol I chose for you is a little spider. A spider keeps walking, turning around and crossing, going up and down without feeling tired, as if it does not want to lose any second of its time. It keeps working till it creates beautiful lines just like a piece of art, so soft and tender but at the same time very strong to support the spider. Then in that web, the spider will enjoy its day waiting for a little bug to come to the web as its food. With patience and your tenderness you have made your masterpiece by connecting dots, thread after thread to connect the CPE participant that by the end of the training we all have been close in one loving friendship that strengthen and complete each other.126 The members of the CPE training have the experience to be part of a faith-based and theologically qualified community. They not only train in psychology as a method, but they also train for the improvement of their personality and growth. They are in training for the further improvement of their congregations and 126. All the cited texts belong to documents from CPE at Cikini Hospital by Saragih (M.A. Saragih pers. comm., 11 June 2016). In Appendix 1, documents of the mid-point evaluation and end-point evaluation of the CPE process and progress are to be found. 80 Chapter 4 their churches. They study examples of building a congregation. This can help to bring new insights into the faith and life of all the churches and their social work for the society. Maybe, in this respect, CPE represents a difference from other methods of psychological training. Indigenous counselling The veneration of ancestors is normally a part of an indigenous tradition, which is regarded to be superfluous in the modern world. It should be abolished. Indigenous counselling has some rating for the emotions associated with indigenous worlds. After the civil wars in Indonesia, people wanted to return from the camps for IDP to their initial homes. They not only wanted to return to their home region but also wanted to take along their dead family members and bury them in the home village or town. The argument was that some indigenous traditions are matriarchal, and in that case the dead had to lie in mother earth as the source of their origins. Otherwise, the dead will not find eternal peace, which would present a threat to the living. This example resulted in controversial discussions, not only in Indonesia but worldwide in different ways. The indigenous perspective is accepted, but there is some doubt as to whether it would be a good signal for the future to follow those indigenous claims. In this regard, cultural differences may give the background for political goals. It would be more useful to follow Adat law concerning the interests of living persons and their life in social justice. One of the positive aspects of Adat law is the responsibility to help neighbours and care for them in danger, which is supreme to any political or religious goal. Indigenous counselling stands for more appreciation of indigenous people’s emotions – more than what was the case in the past. Indigenous traditions may help to fill the voids created by civil wars. They can contribute to the country’s stabilisation, if the different traditions of the various clans are compatible with each other and can be of use to ensure peace. 81 Transformations in Asia’s spirituality and Spiritual Counselling Indigenous counselling has different access methods. Those methods, deriving from Western settings, have chances and limits. If they are used in Spiritual Counselling, the cultural implications have to be considered thoroughly. Churches were part and sometimes reasons for the recent civil wars. But now they are trying to contribute to peace. John Goss is convinced that the churches in the Moluccas behaved in an ambivalent manner. He thinks that although the churches fuelled the war, they later contributed to peacemaking in the entire country, as they were able to be compassionate.127 Septemmy E. Lakawa, professor of Theology in Jakarta, presented a study about the aftermath of the conflicts on the Moluccas in her dissertation ‘Risky hospitality – mission in the aftermath of communal violence’.128 Lakawa is convinced that the inclusion of indigenous cultural knowledge can be useful but will not suffice for the aftermath of culturally based healing practices as ancient practices during the violence in Ambon, the Moluccas, show. Modern psychology approaches like trauma therapy have to be added. Environmental counselling in Indonesia Daniel Susanto is a pastoral psychologist, pastor and lecturer at the Jakarta Theological Seminary. In his research and practice, he focusses on Spiritual Counselling and environmental studies. His lecture on ‘Save our planet’ explains the necessity of caring for the environment in Indonesia129 and highlights the dangers for the biggest natural resource of Indonesia, the forests: Pastoral Care is initially understood as caring for individuals with personal problems such as sickness, anxiety, trauma, depression, grief, divorce, etc. Next, pastoral care includes community. Nevertheless, pastoral care does not stop with the community. Pastoral care should also touch the environment. In Indonesia, environmental damage has 127. Goss (2000:29). 128. Lakawa (2011). 129. Susanto (2013). 82 Chapter 4 brought flooding, erosion, and pollution, all leading to climate change that human beings are actually beginning to experience.130 Fifty per cent of Indonesia is covered by forests, of which 50% are primary forests – the most relevant sort of forests. Trees and earth contribute to the regulation of temperatures in the atmosphere. They help in preventing pollution. Susanto is interested in ecological aspects of forestry as well as in the function of forests for the people and their culture. Forests are among the most important resources. They are symbolic places and they play a role in indigenous counselling, as many aspects of indigenous life and spiritual ceremonies are connected with forests: Forests have spiritual meaning for certain people who are still worshipping plants and animals. The worship of forests, plants and animals, and appeasing of animal and tree spirits are still quite common in some cultures, and the forest is treated with the kind of respect for divine objects.131 Susanto is convinced that Christianity is centred too much in anthropology, and, for him, this is the reason for its controversial stance towards the manifold natural religions in Asia. The dualism of man and nature and the so-called supremacy of man over nature132 led to the destruction of nature more than its preservation. Therefore, nature has to be implied in pastoral psychology, as the spirit and the soul and/or psyche of man is dependent on many factors, one of them being an intact environment: We are certainly pleased that the discussion of pastoral care has developed from individuals to the community with a variety of dimensions such as intercultural approaches, social conflict, interfaith Spiritual Care, etc. Nevertheless, the next question is whether the development of pastoral care stops at the dimension of the community. I don’t think so […] In my opinion, one approach is environmental pastoral care. Through environmental pastoral care we can help and 130. Susanto (2013:1). 131. Susanto (2013:3). 132. Genesis 2:5 and more. 83 Transformations in Asia’s spirituality and Spiritual Counselling motivate Indonesian people not to perform deforestation, but replant forests that have been damaged.133 Environmental Pastoral Counselling offers holistic access to Spiritual Counselling. Susanto wants to improve this access in and for Indonesia. This is what he expressed at the opening of the 11th APCPCC Conference in Jakarta, in Indonesia, 2017: The target of pastoral care is actually broader than just humans. According to John Patton, when the term pastoral is used in some contexts it inevitably means an attitude of care and concern. Who needs care and concern in pastoral care? Besides humans, nature also needs it. God created not only humans but the universe. God also maintains all the creation. Therefore, as a church, we are called to provide pastoral care to creation, too. Environmental pastoral care is a part of holistic pastoral care. Daniel Susanto develops holistic pastoral care which is relevant to our context. Holistic pastoral care serves humans as individuals, the society, and the environment.134 Robert P. Borrong presented similar concepts in his workshop at the 11th APCPCC conference on ‘Violence to nature and pastoral perspective’.135 He predominantly presented the damage to the – for now – still big resources of forests by burning and cutting logs.136 The task of the churches in Indonesia is to make society sensitive to ecological matters. Mental and psychological health is dependent on environmental health. The church has to become a ‘green church’, and pastoral psychology has to become a ‘green pastoral psychology’. Overcoming violence The period of liberalisation after 1998 has by now been succeeded by different and sometimes dangerous political tendencies. It can 133. Susanto (2013:10). 134. Susanto (2017:n.p.). 135. Robert P. Borrong is a theologian at Jakarta Theological Seminary. 136. Darragh (2000:163). 84 Chapter 4 be clearly stated that the Indonesian people do not opt for violent conflicts. On the contrary, they are ready for forgiveness and peacemaking with neighbours, colleagues, friends and in the political sphere. Reconciliasi is a political goal, while religions speak of being compassionate (Christian and the Buddhist tradition) or graceful (Islamic tradition). People accept and honour those parts of religions. They use resources of the indigenous traditions for peace-making processes, not only as part of academic ethics. Counselling and education follow the previously mentioned goals in various parts of civil society. The Go-East Institute in Jakarta cooperates with the Crisis Centre of the Ambon diocese and with the local government. In 2001, they organised a symposium entitled ‘National dialogue on revitalising local culture for rehabilitation and developments in the Moluccas towards a New Indonesia’.137 This was meant to be an invitation to the indigenous leaders of the region, like Bapa Raja, to take responsibility for their role in the peace process and to be aware of its importance. It highlighted the potential contribution of Adat institutions in conflict avoidance and mediation.138 International NGOs cooperated with regional partners, the interreligious office, constituted by Christians and Muslims in Ambon, and facilitated the relations amid the conflict lines. A Mixed Media Centre for journalists was established. Some churches opened their schools to Muslim and Christian pupils, under the name of reconciliation schools. The hidden history of violence Septemmy E. Lakawa sheds light on the relations between Christians and Muslims in her dissertation of 2006.139 137. Goss (2000). 138. Goss (2000:30). 139. Lakawa (2011:16ff.). 85 Transformations in Asia’s spirituality and Spiritual Counselling Lakawa presents a portrait of the period after the New Order. Disorder ensued and uncertainty, corruption, riots and furious masses abounded, with violence between the religions on the rise. She speaks of her country during this time as a ‘country in despair’.140 By the end of his rule, Suharto lost control and old conflicts were rekindled along religious and social lines of injustice. In the former period, relations between Christianity and Islam were framed by political interests and the state’s interest. Whatever was fitting to the state ideology was permitted and welcomed by the religions. Conflicts between the members of religions were suppressed, but between 1999 and 2000 conflict broke out in west and central Java, followed by northern Moluccas, initiated mostly by small and unimportant events. Lakawa depicts her country as ‘a nation with a history of violence’. Riots, pogroms, jihad, everything is included in Indonesia’s recent history, between the religions and cultures living together. Already in 1995, two years before the elections which ended the New Order, churches were burning. As a consequence of a sentence against a Christian who was accused of blasphemy, the church and private houses of Christians in a town were damaged. Muslims considered the sentence too mild.141 Ethnic differences caused tensions between religious groups. A Chinese couple had accused a young man of having spoiled their rest by playing a drum before sunrise. This had happened during Ramadan, which is part of the Muslim tradition, during which Muslims eat before sunrise, and they fast all day long. The Chinese were new to the region, and they did not know the Muslim tradition. Violent attacks against the Chinese population resulted from that.142 Lakawa describes manifold violence between Christians and Muslims, one of them being a students’ riot at the University of 140. Lakawa (2011:37). 141. Lakawa (2011:17). 142. Lakawa (2011:21). 86 Chapter 4 Jakarta (2000). Such conflicts accompanied the final period of the authoritarian regimes of the Old Order and New Order in Indonesia. Regarding the time from 1995 to 2005, in the period of the Reformasi, with nearly annually changing presidents, one being a woman, Megawati Sukarnoputri, similar phenomena existed. They mirrored the economic crisis in Asia, which spread to Indonesia very quickly. Lakawa follows other Indonesian researchers with her conclusions: New Order Indonesia was a state that was built on the foundation of fear and violence. It is possible that the New Order’s era of power was the most violent in the history of Indonesia. Its beginning was marked by the mass murder of people accused by being members of the Indonesian Communist Party (Partai Komunis Indonesia, or PKI), and its grip on the country was evidenced by the killing of university students and the riots that took place within the last weeks of Soeharto’s power.143 Power in interreligious relations was imminent during the whole historical approach to maintain and to develop ‘unity in diversity’ in Indonesia. Lakawa depicts it as an ever-present hidden history of violence.144 It represents a latent danger for the democratic development of the country. Promoting the cause of pluralism and democracy New initiatives for the coexistence of Christians and Muslims – on the Moluccas and in other parts of the country – symbolise a positive development towards democracy. But a threat of radical influences accompanies it, and it has to be considered from time to time and from case to case. Lakawa mentions that there is a challenge to Islam behind the conflicts. It means that there is a chance for members of this dominant religion for an opening to interreligious dialogue. Interreligious dialogue and mutual acceptance of different 143. Lakawa (2011:30). 144. Lakawa (2011:36). 87 Transformations in Asia’s spirituality and Spiritual Counselling theologies and religious practices existed before, but during Reformasi it has changed its meaning. Interreligious dialogue is not about controlling religions, but instead they are encouraged to build society by acting as part of civil society. In this way, religions can stabilise their own positions when they are present and when they fulfil their social functions. These goals have not really been found in all layers of society, but there are examples in my current study. In her dissertation, Lakawa presents a detailed study of a regional conflict from 1999 to 2000. She illustrates interreligious dialogue at the grass-roots level, and she expresses her hope that it is possible to promote a peaceful development of Islam, of Christian churches and of a coexistence of all religions in Indonesia. She is convinced of positive results from analysing the violence and its aftermath: Did religious communal violence unveil the failure of Islam’s experimentation with democracy, or did it provide insights for understanding the challenges ahead for both Muslims and nonMuslims hoping to advance the cause of pluralism and democracy?145 History can be a teacher for a better future; ‘in addition, the question is raised of whether violent Muslim-Christian conflict on the ground influenced the Muslim-Christian leaders’ discourse on interreligious dialogue.’146 Lakawa writes her comments as a Christian theologian. She is a member of the Reformed Church of Indonesia and focusses on her work with women in the aftermath of violence in the Moluccas. Lakawa provides impressions from the situation after 1999–2000. She reflects on the use of religious traditions in order to promote abilities for resilience. By leaving the studies of a Christian theologian, I turn to interreligious convenience in Indonesia, presented by an author reflecting the Islamic tradition. 145. Lakawa (2011:33). 146. Lakawa (2011:46). 88 Chapter 4 Multi-religious encounter is crucial for Spiritual Counselling Wahyu Nugroho147 is convinced that an interreligious dialogue in Indonesia has to be thoroughly developed. This is the thesis of his book Das andere Gesicht des Islams in Indonesien. Religions must feel free to cooperate in practice, if necessary, but they see no reason for a theoretical debate.148 There is an everyday encounter in towns, villages and schools when listening to the Azan from the Mosque or to the bells from the church tower. Religions are present in everyday life, and their members seem to have a basic knowledge of each other. There is no reason to explore new forms of life or spirituality with the other religion, as it happened in Europe during the last decades. However, it would be helpful if the religions formed coalitions in order to prevent all sorts of fundamentalism and radicalism in their members. Television and newspapers present fundamentalism. It would be necessary to have discussions in these media, about the goals and practices of different religions. This would be good to inform and prevent radicalism. Conservative points of view are expressed in public, and more and more they are accepted and shared. Majelis Ulama Indonesia, the Council of Leading Religious Scholars, seems to publish conservative fatwas (laws about Islamic practice, given by leading religious teachers), which destroy the liberal spirit of the beginning of Reformasi. Reasons for this conservative shift not only lie in history but also in the current complicated political situation. Nugroho states that with respect to interreligious dialogue, there are positive developments among some Islamic groups. From the outset of the Reformasi, Indonesia hosts various Sufi orders which come from international networks, their leaders 147. Wahyu Nugroho is a professor of Islamic Sciences at the Christian University of Yogyakarta. 148. At the APCPCC in Jakarta 2017, publications on a dialogue of Christianity and Islam were presented. 89 Transformations in Asia’s spirituality and Spiritual Counselling being mainly visitors from the Middle East who now live in the USA or Europe. They are very active in counselling and communication on the Internet and they travel around the world. New members of the orders are welcomed by the sheikh on the Internet, and they feel proud if they get to see him personally when visiting their country. Sufi orders maintain their networks by secret rituals and secretly shared knowledge – they are esoteric. More and more Sufis practice social work as part of their spirituality, and they are open to interreligious dialogue. The social impact of Sufi tradition Since medieval times, Sufi communities exist – the congregation of Rumi is well-known in Europe. Rumi lived in the 14th century at the border of Anatolia and Iran. ‘The dancing Dervishes’ are still an attraction for tourists, but their dances express a mystic unity with God and are not meant to be just tourist performances. All Sufi orders share the trust of a love-based relation of humankind to God, which in quality is superior to merely showing obedience to God and to religious law. Sufis were political opponents to many powerful rulers in the Islamic world. They were persecuted for not following the Sharia, and as a result destroyed one of the most important pillars of Islam. Modern Sufis have no problem with the acknowledgement of Sharia. They usually accept it, but they do not interpret it in a violent manner. They join the Islamic practice of revitalising the historical sources of Islam for the modern world. Although Sufis use modern technical equipment, they desire to copy the lifestyle of the prophet Muhammad in its historical period. For Sufis, Muhammad was a revolutionary in his time. Sufis do not want to dominate or to spread Islamic thinking by power or violence or by establishing new Islamic parties. On the contrary, many Sufi communities reject mission, and they do not want to demonstrate their heritage and belief when doing social work. This fits in with the already mentioned concept in Indonesia of not showing the 90 Chapter 4 origin of a social gesture publicly.149 Sometimes, it is better to have the social effect of the practical work, as no words or advertisements can substitute such a practical effect. Nugroho introduces the Naqshbandiyya Haqqaniyya, as an emerging Sufi community since 1998. Its founder, Sufi-Sheikh Naqshband, lived in the 14th century in Iran. When the Indonesian islands were conquered for Islam, Sufis were included.150 One of the reasons was that they lived in their communities close to the main routes of commerce of the then global world. They offered spiritual guidance. The open and syncretistic Sufi spirituality fits in well with the indigenous character of the islands. Before Islam, animistic religions were widespread and acknowledged. They worshipped the cosmic harmony of man and nature, and they had abundant forms of spirituality. Hinduism was brought to Java by ancient Indian kings. This religion included a wide range of spirituality, which was easily combined with the Java mentality, and by that with Sufi traditions. Modern Sufis in the order of Naqshbandiyya Haqqaniyya have their basis in the tradition of shared prayer, in meditation, in music and in (not always practised) dance. According to Nugroho, they provide a religion for the middle class, but they insist on social responsibility. Nugroho defines the spirituality of the order as a ‘giving spirituality’. Some sheikhs have a special social interest in poor people, and they work for them. Sheikh Donni in the town of Cinere runs the Rabina Sufi Centre, where street children can find a home for a period of time. They get a chance to live there with the Sufis, and they can learn to smile, as the sheikh explains. They get a chance to leave behind reasons for bitterness and violent behaviour, to overcome the bad memories of their former life – following the sheikh’s words – and they can stay for a while with the Sufis who guide them in social and spiritual respects. The children and young people can stay at the centre until they have finished training for 149. See Chapter 3.2. 150. Nugroho (2015:295). 91 Transformations in Asia’s spirituality and Spiritual Counselling their professions and are able to live an independent life and possibly have families. Sheikh Sholahudd in Jakarta is occupied with healing the poor who cannot afford treatment. He relies on Sufi healing traditions and indigenous knowledge. An emerging social practice and theory will lead to engagement and cooperation with other religions for the benefit of the entire society. This fulfils the goal of Indonesian politics, that is, ‘unity in diversity’. With Naqshbandiyya Haqqaniyya, encounter a friendly Islam. the Occidentals can The following is a shortened version of the teachings of sheikh Hisham,151 which states that the Islam of Naqshbandiyya Haqqaniyya teaches: • tolerance, which is part of the diversity of the order • rejection of radicalism • good relations with other religious and political leaders.152 Nugroho currently sees a chance for a qualified interreligious dialogue. He hopes that there will be a broader space for it in Indonesia, as Christians are interested in a contextual theology as well.153 Nugroho argues: Leading Shaykhs, as Shaykh Hisham and Shayk Mustafa, should lay more impact on the order’s practice and teaching on interreligious encounter when preaching to Indonesian followers. Shaykh Hisham, during his visits in Indonesia, could meet with other religious leaders and organizations, so with Indonesian Bishop’s conference as the leading Catholic board […] or the Community of Churches in Indonesia as the leading board of the Protestant churches or the Indonesian Buddhists.154 Nugroho is not unrealistic; he understands the activities of jihad interpreters. He concludes: Naqshbandiyya Haqqaniyya does not provide space for political programs. It just stresses the necessity to improve society, to 151. A global leader of Naqshbandiyya Haqqaniyya. 152. Nugroho (2015:196). 153. Namsi (2017). 154. Nugroho (2015:132). 92 Chapter 4 empower the needy and to support the dialogue of life in current societies. These are the three platforms for an expression of the social spirituality of our order.155, 156 Religion in this respect provides a programme for the improvement of the spiritual quality and character of humankind, leading to tolerance and peace among men. This implies the interpretation of the important expression ‘jihad’ as a spiritual path. The path leads to the development of an autonomous spiritual personality and is rooted in the love of God and in the love of all humankind. Love is the foundation for global engagement. Sufis want to improve the quality of individual encounters, and they want to maintain the fundamental values needed by every society. As political Islam does, Sufis confront the spiritual losses among Western cultures. It remains an open question as to whether the spiritual impulse of the Sufis can confront the influence of political Islam and whether it can assist in solving Indonesia’s social problems adequately. Hopefully, groups like Naqshbandiyya Haqqaniyya can contribute to an interreligious dialogue with Indonesian Christians and find a shared platform using their different spiritualities. Such an interreligious dialogue may plead for more engagement than just following a practical necessity – as in the case of interreligious marriages. Such an interreligious dialogue may imply commonly shared social projects as well as theological discourse. The conservative turn of Islam In 2013, Martin van Bruinessen published a volume, based on a congress from 2010, on ‘The conservative turn of Islam in the early 21st century’. The information is not only suitable for Indonesia but it also mirrors the current spread of conservative and fundamentalistic tendencies in Islam, which come from Saudi Arabia and has spread all over the world: Developments in Indonesia since the fall of Soeharto in 1998 have greatly changed the image of Indonesian Islam and the existing 155. Nugroho (2015:29). 156. All texts are translated by the author from the German version. 93 Transformations in Asia’s spirituality and Spiritual Counselling perception of Indonesian Muslims as tolerant and inclined to compromise. In the heyday of the New Order, the 1970s and 1980s, Indonesian Islam had presented a smiling face – perhaps appropriately so, under an authoritarian ruler who was known as the smiling general. The dominant discourse was modernist and broadly supportive of the government’s development programme. It embraced the essentially secular state ideology of Pancasila, favoured harmonious relations (and equal rights) with the country’s non-Muslim minorities, and rejected the idea of an Islamic state as inappropriate for Indonesia. Some key representatives spoke of cultural Islam as their alternative to political Islam and emphasized that Indonesia’s Muslim cultures were as authentically Muslim as Middle Eastern varieties of Islam.157 Jihad movements penetrated society in recent years, adding to the development of inner Islamic and interreligious conflicts with social backgrounds. Even the liberal region of Java is home to political radicalism. Java is not only a centre of cultural heritage but also the current centre of jihadism. Terror attacks were committed, though there is no open violence between the different groups as in Aceh or the Moluccas. Islamic NU and Muhammadiyah split up into more conservative and more liberal wings, an adaptation of Sharia and some sympathy for the IS seems to be discussed in several corners of the country and for different reasons. Majelis Ulama Indonesia in Soeharto’s era (since 1975) represented a council of Islamic scholars. It was implemented to assist the government with fatwas. Most of the fatwas of Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI) supported the government and the national ideology. Today – after the tenure of presidents Abdurrahman Wahid and Megawati Sukarnoputri during Reformasi – the fatwas tend to be more and more intolerant: One of the fatwas declared secularism, pluralism and religious liberalism – SiPiLis, in a suggestive acronym coined by fundamentalist opponents – to be incompatible with Islam. This fatwa, believed to be inspired by radical Islamists who had recently joined the MUI but supported by many conservatives from the mainstream, was ostensibly a frontal attack on the small group of liberal Muslims of Jaringan Islam Liberal (Jl – Liberal Islam Network) but attempted 157. Van Bruinessen (2013:1). 94 Chapter 4 to delegitimize a much broader category of Muslim intellectuals and NGO activists, including some of the most respected Muslim personalities of the previous decades.158 These developments will have an impact on Christianity in Indonesia and on other religious minorities, as well as on Muslim minorities like Shia, Alevites or Ahmaddiyyah. Presently the result remains open. Franz Magnis-Suseno, a Catholic professor in Indonesia, reports on the closure of illegal churches and increasing difficulties when wanting to build a new church since the 2005 terror attacks. On the other hand, the cooperation of Christians with members of the liberal-Islamic NU led to the inauguration of a national forum of morals, after the attack in Bali in 2002. Nahdatul Ulama provides military units at Christmas and at Easter, in order to protect the Christians and their services. After the Bali attack, there were spontaneous calls for interreligious prayers. Magnis-Suseno still trusts in the political influence of the state philosophy of Pancasila. Within the increasing insecurity, Pancasila may perhaps regain its historical importance which once existed, during the two authoritarian regimes of President Soekarno and President Soeharto. Pancasila will hopefully guarantee a life of liberty for the minorities in Indonesia. The precondition is that social problems like poverty and corruption should be managed. Radicalism should not be supported neither Islamic nor that of other religions – it is not only Muslims who are radical, as evangelistic and Pentecostal Christians can also be radical. Magnis-Suseno is not convinced of the danger of implementing Sharia in a major part of the country. But increasing Islamisation seems to be a fact. Magnis-Suseno asks, how will the future look like for Christians in Indonesia?159 158. Van Bruinessen (2013:4). 159. Magnis-Suseno (2015:23). 95 Transformations in Asia’s spirituality and Spiritual Counselling Christians have the chance of developing a Public Theology and of becoming public citizens, working for the common good. There exists no alternative to communication with Muslims: We need to come to know and appreciate each other. We have to cancel a priori and mistrust. This is possible only when we do not regard Muslims as enemies.160 Intercultural dialogue, mutual understanding and appreciation of mutual traditions must be preconditions for a positive future and stable convivence. The last statement represents Martin Sinaga’s position. He is a professor at the Theological Seminary in Jakarta. He focusses on the dialogue with Islam and on the interpretation of interreligious relations during the shifting political eras of Indonesia. Sinaga is in contact with Muslims in all parts of Indonesia. He is convinced of a positive development of the common initiatives and the interreligious relations. Sinaga is working on a theological encounter between Christian churches and Islam, an encounter between Christians and Muslims. In his eyes, various efforts are being made, which could lead to further interreligious dialogues. Those efforts seem to be successful in theory and practice. Sinaga focusses on the fact that invitations to common prayers are exchanged from Muslim and Christian sides. An encounter in the mode of ‘giving and taking’ has begun, and it will proceed.161 160. Magnis-Suseno (2015:25). 161. I refer to a meeting with Dr Martin Sinaga, professor at the Jakarta Theological Seminary on 09 September 2017. The option to speak of an encounter and discussions between Christians and Muslims about theological aspects was introduced to me by Dr Martin Sinaga. According to his information in the interview, his research implies contextual theology and dialogue with Islam as a part of an interreligious dialogue practised in and by his university. 96 Chapter 5 Recent developments of Spiritual Care in Japan The focus of this chapter is on Japan, its society, its great challenges, and special development within South East Asian countries like Indonesia as mentioned in Chapter 4. Japan’s history, culture, economic and political status differ quite a lot from that of Indonesia. Religions like Shinto and Buddhism exist, but their role and power are quite different. This chapter gives some insights into the practice and theory of counselling influenced by a Buddhist-Christian encounter. I also introduce the concept of a ‘general theory on Spiritual Counselling’, though I will not discuss this concept in depth within the following evaluation of Spiritual Counselling in both Asian and African settings. How to cite: Elsdörfer, U., 2019, ‘Recent developments of Spiritual Care in Japan’, in Spirituality in diversity: South East Asia meets South Africa Towards a global view of Spiritual Counselling, 2nd edn., pp. 97–102, AOSIS, Cape Town. https://doi.org/10.4102/aosis.2019.BK156.05 97 Recent developments of Spiritual Care in Japan Narrative hermeneutical care: Christian and Buddhist approach In Japan after World War II and more than 66 years later, the practice of religion in public was forbidden. Takaaki David Ito162 is convinced of the necessity of spirituality for societies, which have no chance to survive without roots in culture and religion. Over the past few years, an increasing interest in religions has emerged in Japan. This seems to prove Ito’s thesis. A terror attack of the sect Aum in Tokyo’s underground railway around the millennium nearly destroyed the chances of a comeback of religions and spirituality. Before this event, there was an increased appreciation of different religions in Japan. Christians constitute 2% of the Japanese population, meaning that a great deal of effort is needed in order to be heard publicly. The earthquakes of the past and their aftermath required psychological assistance. Buddhists were very much interested in providing spiritual assistance, and the Christians joined them: Even at the time of the Hanshin-Awaji (Kobe) Earthquake in 1995, another disaster, which occurred in the living history of contemporary Japan, the main discussion centered on the importance of psychological care, such as for trauma, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), or grief. Not surprisingly due to the previously mentioned religious and social circumstances, there was little social demand for religious and/or Spiritual Care at that time. The 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and subsequent tsunami were, however, different in light of the following aspects. Being well-known from the experience of the earthquake and tsunami in Sumatra in 2004, the impact of such a giant tsunami is cruel. The people who survive experience, loss of their loved ones, loss of their homes and physical buildings, loss of home, loss of the things they cherished, tokens of memories, loss of their community [and] loss of their jobs.163 Most people had suffered significant losses from the catastrophes, and they were devastated. Suddenly, there was a call for Spiritual 162. Takaaki David Ito is a professor of Care and Counselling at Sophia University Tokyo. 163. Ito (2012:55). 98 Chapter 5 Counselling, which required the educating of counsellors. Many religious groups responded promptly and provided their assistance – more than 500 initiatives were noted. For the first time in modern Japan, religions gained importance. The Tohoku region in the north of Japan, which was devastated by the tsunami and Fukushima disasters in 2011, had to deal with various issues. The region is not as economically strong as other parts of Japan, with the inhabitants having a long cultural tradition of being fishers and peasants, but they always seemed to be inferior to the cultural tradition of the emperor’s ancestors.164 Counselling for people in this region required a special sensitivity. Ito prefers the narrative hermeneutical165 framework for Spiritual Care providers as an adequate form of counselling for 164. In Ito’s (2012:n.p.) article, it is said, ‘it is also important to note the vital contributions of the fisher culture. Those who lived in the tsunami-hit area developed another set of unique spiritual care issue. Previously, many Japanese viewed the area of Tohoku, which literally means “the north-east,” unconsciously as a backward part of the country. The culture of Tohoku is rooted deeply in ancient Jomon culture, named after the characteristics of the pottery excavated from the Neolithic era. The Jomon culture was once believed to be primitive and inferior, for example, as the “barbarian enemy,” which was conquered by the “advanced agrarian culture” constituting the Japanese Imperial lineage. Historically speaking, Japanese political powers perceived this region as an insubordinate geographical location, which was beyond the peripheral range of the priorities of their reign. In fact, the full official title given to the supreme military ruler, the Shogun, which was passed down from the 12th through the 19th centuries, was Seii Tai Shogun, the Commander-in-chief of the Japanese conquerors to the north, i.e. Tohoku. Recent studies have, however, more profoundly discovered the richness of the Jomon culture. The people of the Tohoku region have endeavored to regain their identities and cultural pride during the last 20 years. The earthquake and the tsunami hit this region hard in terms of wounding the hearts of those who had just begun to experience the richness of this process of authentic cultural regeneration. It was, therefore, noteworthy for spiritual care providers who entered that area to expect different faceted outgrowths of spiritual regeneration in the midst of a deeper process of cultural regeneration in the Tohoku coastal region. Their lifestyle, community, values and world-view are very different from those of the typical Japanese agrarian culture. Any political representation of their voices in the modern central Japanese government has been minimal. However, efforts towards modernization over the past 150 years and the post-war emphasis on secularization and privatization of religious and traditional values have made their spiritual framework shakier. The earthquake and following tsunami have deeply impacted this region, which has experienced a series of multiple neglected layers in terms of its geography, culture, social make-up and political and religious practice.’ 165. Ito (2012). 99 Recent developments of Spiritual Care in Japan people from indigenous contexts in the north of Japan. Their unique experiences can only be effectively expressed if they are contingent within their system. They must have the chance to speak, to tell their own story and to bring stories of suffering to the surface. Their narrative develops when somebody is listening. Such moments of encounter and mutual appreciation tend to be a kairos for the client, implying the chance to discover a coherence of experience in suffering. When telling their stories, clients can sense the dialogue with the counsellor and with themselves. They become co-narrators of their own story: Both active and attentive listening have therapeutic qualities because they facilitate a deeper reflection on the part of the narrator, because she or he must relativize his/her experiences. On the part of the listener, rigorous reflective practice is a necessary prerequisite to provide authentic Spiritual Care. As professionals, Spiritual Care providers must be constantly aware of the processes that transform their own perspectives and through which emerge common understanding and meaning for those with whom they dialogue. It is, thus, their responsibility to proceed from the basis of their own framework of understanding and to follow the lead of the narrator, namely to initiate self-transformation, as a means to attempt to understand the truth the narrators are explaining from their view of the horizon. This reflective practice must happen immediately as soon as a connective relationship is formed, so that Spiritual Care providers can become personal role models of self-transformation to their partners in the dialogue.166 It is impossible to listen without any knowledge of different religious and cultural positions. Training in Spiritual Counselling has to provide these intercultural skills:167 [I]nterfaith ministries, such as take place when Christian Spiritual Care providers visit Buddhist patients in the hospital, are vitally important not only for constructive interfaith relations, but also as a model for how the rest of the world should live, in that they must leave behind their own preconceptions for the sake of developing deeper meaning 166. Ito (2012:56–57). 167. The education in intercultural and counselling skills in Japan is mentioned in Chapter 1. 100 Chapter 5 and understanding in the midst of any of the bonds they might form with others.168 In Japan, it is quite common to have mixed groups consisting of Christians and Buddhists, and this underlines the need for a thorough evaluation and understanding of the multi-religious situation. General theory of Spiritual Counselling Ito prefers a general theory of Spiritual Counselling. It should refer to many different layers being addressed in an encounter between client and counsellor: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. language cultural and religious tradition challenges by modern business worlds changing family systems regional and cultural change because of migration. Spiritual Care as an academic and practical discipline is at a crucial time in its development. Care of the soul of the sick and the troubled has always been there from the early stages of our history. It is mostly carried out by religious people based on their appreciation and acceptance of society. For a long time, this acceptance has been part of our culture. Regardless of those traditions, spirituality is the key concept of healthcare in modern society. Here a multiplicity of religions and traditions live in concurrence and claim to facilitate accesses to patients’ realities. Coexistence of different world views and a different sense of beauty and goodness are at the core of the vision of our democratic society. In other words, a modern person lives with persons being regarded as ‘others’ (compared to the own mentality and world view), whereas in a traditional community a person lives with those people who are seen as one of ‘ours’ (those who have a similar 168. Ito (2012:58). 101 Recent developments of Spiritual Care in Japan mentality and world view). Pastoral Care needs to re-establish its identity by stepping out from one’s faith community where the members are brothers and sisters, and by going out into the public sphere to care for others where the care is accountable to the public and needs to prove its efficacy.169 A general theory of Spiritual Counselling implies religious and cultural layers, gender and education. A general theory of Spiritual Counselling leads to a general practice of Spiritual Counselling in Japanese society. 169. Ito (2016:152–164). 102 Part Two Chapter 6 Public Theology and public pastoral care in (South) Africa Christian spirituality and its foundation in theology are not to be separated from daily life practice, with regard to marginalisation and big social problems. Christian spirituality has to be rooted in theological reflection – it has to be held accountable for everyday encounters and for actions in daily life. In this respect, theological theory is placed behind public activities for the sake of societies. Here, theological and sociological, psychological and economic theories have to be reflected in the context of Public Theology. Public theology is related to social sciences, to social ethics, to systematic theology and to theological ethics. Following its best-known representative, David Tracy,170 theology always has the character of Public Theology: All theology is public discourse […] the only differences being the primary publics of the theologians. The academy for the fundamental 170. David Tracy is a Catholic theologian. How to cite: Elsdörfer, U., 2019, ‘Public Theology and public pastoral care in (South) Africa’, in Spirituality in diversity: South East Asia meets South Africa Towards a global view of Spiritual Counselling, 2nd edn., pp. 105–119, AOSIS, Cape Town. https://doi.org/10.4102/ aosis.2019.BK156.06 105 Public Theology and public pastoral care in (South) Africa theologian, the church for the systematic theologian, and the wider society for the practical theologian.171 Public Theology connects civil religion, a part of occidental thinking since Aristotle, with Political Theology. Political Theology, in its global context, accompanies rapid change and a strong demand for political resistance – in Latin America as ‘liberation theology’, in the USA and Africa as ‘black theology’ and globally as ‘feminist theology’. Critical impulses are dominant. The stabilising function of religion is not completely omitted, but it is mainly used for new pragmatic aims and for a change in societies. Christians want to contribute to this promotion of a gradually better life for poor and marginalised people and cultures. Through that, they have to endure painful processes of social learning, which require a lot of engagement and civil courage. Public Theology is open to a developmental process of societies with a multi-cultural population. The concepts of civil religion, of Political Theology or Public Theology, are based on models of change. They assist developments globally: The goal of finding a more inclusive, genuinely ecumenical and Catholic way of identifying a valid, viable inner convictional and ethical framework on which to build the moral and spiritual architecture of our increasingly common life is indispensable.172 For the Catholic Church, the reflection of Public Theology is closely related to the foundations of Vaticanum II. John Courtney Murray173 is convinced that the ethical frame of democracy and pluralism result from natural law. For Murray, a society cannot exist if it does not find a stable relation between ratio and philosophy and the biblical heritage. He doubts whether (Western) societies can exist without any religious foundation. Murray is convinced that Christian thinking is necessary in order to maintain a public discourse. The social survival of most Western 171. Tracy (1981), cited in Hansen (2007a:98). 172. Stackhouse (2007:79). 173. John Courtney Murray is an American theologian and a member of the Jesuit order. 106 Chapter 6 or pluralistic societies is granted only by public discourse and by an ethical foundation in (Christian) religion. When stating this contribution of religions to a Christian world ethos, no big threat of a new religious fundamentalism was in sight. By now, radical interpretations challenge the view of a solely positive influence of religion on the foundations of a society. Islamic or Hindu fundamentalism were not yet in sight when Public Theology was claimed to be a partner for a Christian and modern world ethos, for a world based on humanity’s goals. The assumption was that the inclusive religion of Christianity, which is practised in very diverse contexts, and its sophisticated theological reflection would be able to prevent fundamentalist and sectarian religiosity or ‘neo-tribalism’. A humanistic Christianity will be able to produce new and modern cultural values, values that contradict idolatry and evoke a new place for humanity in religious practice.174 Whenever civil religion, interpreted as traditional religion, loses value, Public Theology can assist in finding a new spiritual goal. Religion can contribute to a new interpretation of societal and cultural traditions. These are no transformations like radical utopia, as sometimes included in Political Theology, but these are small practical steps when pursuing empowering goals. ‘Indeed, in recent history, Martin Luther King, Jr. became a worldwide exemplar of public theology in its activist and optimistic mode.’175 Some societies prevent religions from practising their faith in public by not granting public space for such practices anymore. In Australia and New Zealand, for example: [T ]ime and time again leaders in the church have been advised not to meddle in public affairs; their proper public role is to wait upon the spiritual needs of their members and demonstrate pastoral care and social service.176 174. Stackhouse (2007:80). 175. Stackhouse (2007:87). 176. Pearson (2007:73). 107 Public Theology and public pastoral care in (South) Africa The societies of the two countries are liberal and secular; they do not support orthodox or fundamentalist forms of religious practice. If religions want to be heard in their specific contexts, if they want to express their contributions to social change, they have to provide a forum, and they have to make their voices heard again: Religious positions (in Australia and New Zealand) have to be justified in the public forum. They are not taken for granted as legitimate standpoints for public debate. They are more likely to be seen as foreign, as leftovers of a past age, or strictly personal which means they are private not public and can be expressed but not advocated. In this context, Christian theology has a public voice only if it is itself consistent and coherent, and if the message is backed by witness, that if Christians practise what theology preaches.177 Public Theology is a term with a wide spectrum. It does not only refer to political and public actions. It embraces processes that are disclosed to public eyes – Spiritual Counselling is one of those processes. Practical psychologists who are teaching and practising Spiritual Counselling are partners in the process of defining the goal of Public Theology. Public Theology as a frame of reference for Spiritual Counselling: A ministry of presence and compassion The South African society after apartheid shows a growing diversity and tolerance. It still can be regarded as a mainly Christian society. The influence of the churches is manifold. They assist in maintaining ethical standards for acting in political or public affairs, and they give shelter to many groups of civil society by providing room and human resources. As in my study on Indonesian churches, I enquired about the impact of the churches in South Africa on the social development of the state and country. Of particular interest is the contribution 177. Pearson (2007:73). 108 Chapter 6 of the churches to more social justice and to a greater equality in race relations. Social justice begins with the prevention of crime in violence-infested suburbs and townships. This begins with the caring work with children and young people. Growing up in an environment which seldom provides a reason for hope, young girls and boys need the special guidance of care workers and counsellors, if those persons are available. Volunteers may fill the gap for professional assistance. They may provide reliable social structures surrounded by latent chaos. They may give the youngsters a small amount of emotional security in the midst of tremendous challenges. Llewellyn MacMaster describes the special work of church congregations in the local townships of Cape Town and the Cape Flats.178 A summary and evaluation of his research and an outlook of the future of this initiative, regarded from the years shortly after the millennium, is given in the attachment of this study.179 Other examples from South Africa and from Care and Counselling in a public and political sphere can clarify and lead to a deeper understanding of Spiritual Counselling as Public Theology. In this study, I normally use the term Spiritual Counselling. South African pastoral psychologists speak of public pastoral care. In the following discussion, I use both terms with the same meaning. In his dissertation, MacMaster asks, ‘what are the conditions that call us to be public theologians in South Africa today?’180 How far can Spiritual Counselling (in his words, public pastoral care) help to deal with the fundamental insecurity of the South African society, and how much can it contribute to transformative processes? He analyses the situation as follows: I have started off by stating the opinion or concern of many that the voice of the church has become silent in the post-apartheid South African society. Fact of the matter is that the new political 178. MacMaster (2009a). 179. MacMaster (2007a). 180. MacMaster (2001a:125ff.). 109 Public Theology and public pastoral care in (South) Africa dispensation has compelled the church to re-assess and re-define her ministry. It requires that we keep on analysing the context and reading the signs of the times as they are presented to us in the light of current local, regional and global shifts and changes, and interpreting these in the light of Scriptures. Since 1990, we have been debating whether the church should continue or discontinue its prophetic role of social criticism; whether it should rather concentrate on its pastoral, caring, affirming and noncritical role […]. I will list a number of challenges that face the church as we re-define and re-align ourselves to take care of all God’s people in South Africa with the nation experiencing severe growth pains at present. These are in no particular order of importance or priority: Moral degeneration and regeneration; poverty and unemployment; crime and violence; illegal drug trafficking, drug abuse and gangsterism; violence against the aged, women and children; sexism, sexual abuse and homophobia; HIV and AIDS, STDs, tuberculosis, and other health issues; orphans and vulnerable children (AIDS orphans and childheaded households); materialism and consumerism; classism; racism and xenophobia; opportunism and careerism; corruption and abuse of power; illiteracy; nihilism, hopelessness and despair, resignation. Most of these issues are very systemic and structural in nature and many of them also are interrelated.181 MacMaster asks, ‘what is the reason for public pastoral care?’: Most of us never suspected that pastoral care would be a significant discipline in the movement to publicize theology. Ethics, of course; theology, yes; but pastoral care? No way! This was the reaction of a number of people to whom I have spoken about Public Pastoral Care. It is true, on the one hand, that the Public Theology agenda has up to now been dominated by the contributions of ethicists and systematic theologians. My own opinion is that there can never really be a total separation of aspects of theology into water-tight divisions; specialisation in particular fields should never have resulted in the fragmentation of theology. Experience in ministry has taught us that life is one whole and dealing with any single life issue requires knowledge of all theological disciplines […] Pastoral theologians and counsellors today are more accountable in study and in practice to the political and social factors that impinge on 181. MacMaster (2001a:125ff.). 110 Chapter 6 people’s lives on local and global levels than previous definitions of the field have acknowledged and allowed. 182 MacMaster provides the answer himself. Public Pastoral Care and Counselling in his view is: A Ministry of presence and compassion means that we have to move out of our comfort zones at times, to care for people outside the gate (cf. Hebrews 13:12–13), putting our bodies on the line (see Chikane), getting involved in the messiness of life. The opposite is more than often true – we have, as a result of our fears and the high incidence of crime, isolated ourselves from the outside world through the best possible and affordable security means. We hear and see so many relational refugees among us today. It is the former political activist, detainee and politician, now sixty years old and suffering from health problems, yearning to come face to face with a former security policeman who tortured him, who says: The trauma sits within my body and I want to get rid of it so that I can heal.183 A holistic spirituality is based on a close connection between the healing of the body and soul. Healing is based on empathy and listening: Empathy and good listening skills remain essential components of the make-up of any pastoral carer and counsellor […] Empathetic listening will enable us to hear the cries and the pain of so many relational refugees. Wimberly describes relational refugees as follows: Relational refugees are persons not grounded in nurturing and liberating relationships. They are detached and without significant connections with others who promote selfdevelopment. They lack a warm relational environment in which to define and nurture self-identity. As a consequence, they withdraw into destructive relationships that exacerbate rather than alleviate their predicament.184 In the aftermath of violence, healing practice has a chance only if the victim’s claim for justice is no longer violated. 182. Franklin (2006:n.p.). 183. MacMaster (2001b:133). 184. Louw (1999:39–54). 111 Public Theology and public pastoral care in (South) Africa Counselling does not only mean listening but also being on the side of the victim, as well and being compassionate: A Ministry of presence and compassion would sometimes mean working through and with existing community structures, like Community Police Forums. One gets the impression that many churches think that they have to do things on their own to ensure a ‘Christian’ presence. A Ministry of presence and compassion utilises metaphors like shepherd, servant or wounded healer, paraclete and wise fool to describe the pastors’ understanding of their different roles as sensitive carers who communicate Christ’s vicarious suffering within the daily human relational experiences with great compassion, encouragement, strengthening and guidance, as well as admonishment and exhortation.185 Regarded from a Christian spiritual and theological point of view, the concept of a ministry of presence and compassion covers the consequent practice of guiding and spending empathy as a gift resulting from religious demands, and of spending love as a fulfilment of individual faith. But practice shows that, additionally, both psychological theory and professional training are needed. These as well as thoroughly grounded sociological research are the foundations of the Christian and religious impetus. MacMaster, in many respects, tries to overcome the gap between the religious impetus and its deep moral value for the importance of requirements of professional standards to provide a successful aid for socially precarious worlds. In his book, Wholeness in Hope Care, Daniel Louw186 connects the different aspects, examples and theories to an overall study on the science of humanity. Louw links pastoral psychology with Public Theology, with ecology and with philosophy. In his theological thinking, Daniel Louw has roots in the Theologie der Hoffnung by the German Theologian Jürgen Moltmann.187 185. MacMaster (2001b:133). 186. Louw (2015). 187. Jürgen Moltmann was a Protestant systematic theologian in Tübingen, Germany. 112 Chapter 6 Louw’s subject in earlier publications was that there is ‘meaning in suffering’. Both items are closely related – suffering leads to renewed hope. Louw (2012:30) speaks of the relevance of the hope factor, stating, ‘[h]ope in pastoral care giving: prelude to a new future.’ According to his words, hope for South Africa is combined with a liberalisation of authoritarian regimes, with the destigmatisation of HIV and AIDS patients, with the reconciliation after traumatic experiences of victims of the apartheid regime. Wholeness as physical, psychological and spiritual health can be included in a future mainstream spirituality and in Practical Theology as a part of Public Theology. Wholeness has always been a part of nature, according to indigenous African spirituality and mentality. Spiritual healing and spirituality and their openness to Christianity and to a global discourse in philosophy are facets of Louw’s wish to lead to a general practice of Pastoral Care and Counselling as a partner for the achievement of human rights and human dignity. Postcolonial theology In contrast to the South African scene of mainly Protestant theology, Emmanuel Lartey is a Ghanaian theologian and pastoral psychologist. Lartey’s work shows different approaches to Christianity as a religion of European heritage. According to Lartey, the theological impulses of Christianity and of the Christian faith are rooted in African indigenous cultures; they imply that colonial traditions are foreign to Africa. Christian faith is dependent on and independent from cultural influences. Lartey gives examples of African theology, mostly presented in concepts of Practical Theology. His first publication, In Living Colour,188 deals with intercultural approaches to Pastoral Care 188. Lartey (2003). 113 Public Theology and public pastoral care in (South) Africa and Counselling. His research is focussed on regional experiences in Africa, in the USA and in Europe, concerning the diversity of race and colour. He has studied and taught Spiritual Counselling in his mother country, Ghana, and in Birmingham in the UK. In his book, he refers to his own experiences of migration to different worlds in Africa, Europe and in the USA, where he is working as a professor. His later publications turn away from special descriptions to a more general view of intercultural Spiritual Counselling. He focusses on the fact that the entire creation is centred on diversity. He is convinced that the biblical story about the tower of Babel does not reject diversity. Instead, it is meant to present an example demonstrating the incorrect use of diversity. The diversity of languages and of humankind can show the manifold aspects of creation, and thereby it can demonstrate the colourful aspects of the world. If emerging diversity is only seen as a threat for imperial desire for power and control, it destroys the chances of humankind to live together in peace and unity. If diversity is regarded as a tool for peacemaking, it has the power to bring humankind together, as the Pentecost miracle of the New Testament demonstrates. The phenomenon of diversity can be interpreted in two ways, and it has ambiguous aspects – but all interpretations can lead to the intended goal of peace and mutual negotiations about differences. In historical times, diversity was used as an instrument of colonialism, as long as it supported the colonialists’ goals, and it was suppressed if they had no advantages from diversity. Lartey discusses the impact of the concept of post-colonialism, with its aim to use and by that to overcome the colonial influence. Sometimes, this means to use the same arguments twice and in an ambiguous way. Besides appreciating the positive aspects of colonial traditions, Christian heritage nowadays should assist in developing an African theology. Truly African theology has its roots in African indigenous spiritual forms. Truly African theology should use, but also transform, historical European Christian cultural heritage. 114 Chapter 6 Colonial traditions have to be seen in the light of a postcolonial interpretation. In colonial times, the use of indigenous forms in theology and Christian spiritual practice was either neglected or completely forbidden: [P]ostcolonializing activities are polyvocal. Both the Babel and the Pentecost narrative in the Bible recognize and encourage many voices to speak and be heard on the subjects under consideration. Never satisfied with just one perspective on any subject, the postcolonializer seeks out other voices, especially submerged, ignored or rejected voices, to be invited to articulate their own authentic voice. Subjugated voices with despised knowledge are given room at the postcolonial table.189 A new self-consciousness and a new reliance on authentic cultural roots may be helpful for Africa’s future. Africa can be creative, as the continent’s heritage is various. Africa can promote a new spirituality. This was demonstrated in the year 2007. Lartey gives a report on a religious ceremony at Elmina Castles190 in Ghana. The indigenous and Christian liturgy commemorated the 200th anniversary of the abolition of slavery. Lartey took part in this ceremony, during which the spirits of the once-deported ancestors were invited to return to their mother country. The ‘door of no return’ at the exit of Elmina Castles, turning towards the ocean and towards the ships, was opened and reversed into a ‘door of return’. In this way, postcolonial liturgical practice was applied. Postcolonial theology opened the spaces for such an experiment. It aimed at a new interpretation and for a transformation of colonial religion – though in daily life, liturgies will be less spectacular. But in this special case, it was important to opt for the creation of a new awareness of African strength, to support the cultural independence from the European heritage and to create a cultural identity and spirituality out of Africa’s genuine resources, 189. Lartey (2013:39). 190. From these castles, African slaves were sent to the New World. 115 Public Theology and public pastoral care in (South) Africa ‘postcolonializers typically employ the tools and resources utilized by the colonialisers but do so in subversive, critical and counter-hegemonic ways.’191 Lartey adds an important aspect to African spirituality: The second has to do with the place and efficacy of ritual in African traditional religious life and thought. Ritual is not merely a ceremony or activity that one engages in repeatedly as a formalized performance that is symbolic of life’s circumstances. To the traditional African mind, ritual is a spiritually powerful means of effecting change in both the seen and the unseen world.192 According to Lartey, an approach to African mentalities is only possible when thoroughly studying the daily life of African people. Respect for their expressions will be the key to any further encounter with them to gain psychological insights and to achieve spiritual encounter. Public Theology in Africa: Pros and cons A critical view on the already existing success of Public Theology in Africa, including indigenous traditions in Spiritual Counselling, is presented by Vhumani Magezi.193 He is questioning the fact that theology as an African product already has had its basic implementation within the continent. Magezi is convinced that theological reflections in Africa and South Africa are still too much dependent on Western examples. By presenting this view, Magezi poses one of his critical questions. A second one lies in his conviction that African societies are not really rooted in Western customs and assumptions. When pursuing the aim of achieving an indigenous identity and culture, there is no need to base it on Western thinking; the problem is hidden in 191. Lartey (2013:47). 192. Lartey (2013:43). 193. Magezi (2016a, 2016b) 116 Chapter 6 the ambivalence. Most of the underlying assumptions of African scholars result from their studies of Western scientific sources, and this affects their daily practice, which is meant for Africa, but the theory comes from the USA or Europe. According to Magezi, differences in the approach to African and Western mentalities affect the basic psychological practice of everyday counselling. A lack of knowledge about cultural diversity prevents the necessary independence, which is important for African scholars in order to develop a psychological and theological identity for their scientific research. Following Magezi, there is a lack of systematic theology in Africa. He is convinced that a new emergence of systematic theological reflections is necessary. This systematic theology should be based on regional African theological research. Magezi points out the gap between the use of psychological and theological theories, which are mostly adapted from other continents, and African beliefs. Besides that, most theoretical work is expressed in short essays, shedding a spotlight on the subjects, but it does not provide a general view of the practice and the underlying theory and theology of Spiritual Counselling in Africa. Evidence shows that Africa’s Practical Theology shares this development with other global approaches to Spiritual Counselling. According to Magezi, African Spiritual Counselling mainly deals with traditional indigenous forms of spirituality. But they do not always provide support with regard to the goal of society’s empowerment. Globally used and acknowledged methods of psychology should accompany indigenous traditions. Only a combination of indigenous and Western professional approaches will fulfil the overall goal of holistic Care and Counselling. Compared to the requirements of a modern, globalised world, psychology for Africa should provide global and local approaches. The veneration of ancestors is still a factor in religion and spirituality, and witchcraft as a common practice has to be considered. These indigenous aspects play a role when considering a reflected practice of Spiritual Counselling in Africa. 117 Public Theology and public pastoral care in (South) Africa The primary goal will be to develop empowering forms of Spiritual Counselling as tools for a broader group of religious practitioners. Those care workers, pastors or counsellors should be enabled to understand and to refer to indigenous backgrounds. They should be prepared through their education to use different tools of approaching the human soul, in order to relieve people from their daily sufferings and pain. In addition, they should use this broader knowledge for a greater psychological, mental and spiritual development of their clients: If African Christianity and indeed pastoral care are to make a contribution to the world of Christianity, they should reconsider and improve their agenda in the light of contemporary African challenges. The redesign should include refocusing on the Africa of the twentyfirst century, focusing on Africa in the global context, and being critical of African approaches. Reflection on pastoral care needs to seriously engage with contemporary issues in a systematic manner.194 Magezi’s wish is that academic theology in Africa may develop more profound scientific qualities. This means that scholars should look beyond the borders of religious theory and (mostly traditional) practice. Their research should move into the realm of the humanities and social sciences, in order to facilitate access to the 21st century in the soul and spirit of the people. Public Theology in Africa, while developing constantly, can fulfil the two tasks of doing scientific theology as well as reflecting on the humanities and social sciences; its theological impulses can assist while analysing individual and social backgrounds of the members of religious entities or of entire societies. Public Theology’s broad scientific roots in psychology, sociology, social and cultural anthropology and political sciences can lay the foundation to accompany projects. Public Theology can open up original instead of imported qualities of life. Both Public Theology and Spiritual Counselling have a chance of combining colonial theological heritage with religious and indigenous cultural diversity. Here, theology can be 194. Magezi (2016b:n.p.). 118 Chapter 6 transformed according to non-Western requirements, and indigenous traditions can provide roots for regional rituals and thinking. Authentic forms of expressing African and global spirituality may grow. With the mentioned transformations, Africans can feel at home both in their inherited, regional spirituality and their imported world of mentality and spirituality. They will access the global and colourful stage of developing sense and meaning in manifold impulses and multiple modernities. 119 Chapter 7 Interreligious Asian Public Theology meets (South) African Public Theology Christian theology as a Western heritage is a common phenomenon in Africa as well as in Asia. Christian theology in its colonial form mostly tried to preserve the European and American cultural roots, and inculturation was seldom practised. Some examples from Indonesia, regarding the work of Franciscus van Lith and from other persons from the Catholic orders, are already discussed. Concerning the particular interest of Spiritual Counselling, theology is not the only scientific source. Spiritual Counselling should be based on a theological theory, but it is more often related to psychology and social sciences. In Africa and Asia, the roots of Care and Counselling can be predominantly found in spirituality. How to cite: Elsdörfer, U., 2019, ‘Interreligious Asian Public Theology meets (South) African Public Theology’, in Spirituality in diversity: South East Asia meets South Africa Towards a global view of Spiritual Counselling, 2nd edn., pp. 121–136, AOSIS, Cape Town. https://doi. org/10.4102/aosis.2019.BK156.07 121 Interreligious Asian Public Theology meets (South) African Public Theology Spirituality in Western thinking is a matter of personal experience. Spirituality can lead to personal growth, supporting the deeper independence of a person from culturally-based constraints. Spirituality accompanies an individual process, mostly a process of rethinking positive cultural traditions. Furthermore, it mostly leads to a critical view of a materialised modern world. According to many spiritual sources in Asia and Africa, theology as a theory is regarded to be far removed from everyday life. In their daily practice, most African and Asian people prefer various forms of practised spirituality. Spirituality is linked to meditation, to bodily expression, while theology is based on reflection and abstract theory. Nevertheless, there is a demand for assessing the theological link between an emerging Public Theology in Asia and Africa and between the upcoming interest in a scientific approach to indigeneity within the societies of both regions. Presumably, this link is to be found in the wish to improve the marginalised status of both regions, as well as in the need for a constant political and economic improvement. Such a development implies cultural factors. Seen from a global perspective, some similarities of the regions can be detected. Some implications of the theory of Public Theology will fit both regions and their societies, while other aspects will not be fit for comparison. Especially the long historical tradition of multi-religious cultures in Asia has no equivalent in African societies. In South Africa, as a result of the aftermath of the apartheid system, society is aiming to practise an active sharing of different and antagonist interests. Therefore, a part of civil society’s contribution to further development is action. In South East Asia, as societies tend to develop and access the global stage, spirituality and theology have to connect with action, step-by-step. Spirituality as a traditional practice has to be accompanied by methods of reducing poverty and underdevelopment. Empowerment is important in every sector of life. There is no chance to analyse society without a wish to 122 Chapter 7 change life standards and the quality of life for many people. Spirituality is connected with the power and with the foundations a community has. There is no distinct separation between spirituality and the basics of theology. Theology represents the foundation of the practice of spirituality. Spirituality is the way how theological thinking is expressed. Believers are not familiar with a philosophy behind religions, especially in South East Asia. Spirituality is a matter of daily practice, and without the practice of an active community, spirituality makes no sense. The consequence for scholars of theology is that without social and spiritual practice in the multi-cultural society, academic theology is not very attractive. Theological scholars may fulfil the task by studying and teaching the contents of a worldwide academic theology. But there is only a small group of people who are really interested in adult education in Indonesia with whom theologians can share their knowledge. If theologians want to address broader groups of religious people in their different environments, they have to approach people busy with their daily work, in their extended families, in their sorrows as well as in their ways of achieving happiness. Therefore, the impulse of theology – telling people about God – has to be made public, and it has to be transparent for people in the marketplace. Besides reflections about a global approach to spirituality as a provider of deeper sources in life, spirituality is important for marginalised groups. Women in South East Asia feel marginalised; they are searching for spirituality, for a life in solidarity, for empowerment. They need and use involvement in their culture and traditions. For them, spirituality is a source of strength, to raise their voices and to participate in the power of defining society’s values. Women’s spirituality is mostly concerned with the claim to achieve greater justice in relations of power between women and men. Women study the female and male aspects of culture and spirituality. They then use the results of their studies 123 Interreligious Asian Public Theology meets (South) African Public Theology for practical changes in their families, in their private lives, and in their access to professions and public life. They know that genderspecific definitions of mental and psychological abilities derive from cultural traditions (and prejudices). In indigenous and traditional thinking (even in Western societies), women are regarded to live on intuition, to have patience and a calm spirit. Their capabilities are not regarded to be negative, but they somehow seem not to be useful and successful when being confronted by power. Handling power is defined to be a masculine quality. In this view, men contribute to culture with power and are connected with the qualities of representation, of self-consciousness and self-exposition. It seems that women’s contributions to culture are seen as weak, shameful – compared to their male counterparts – and it seems as if men’s power is by definition related to violence. Marginalisation is a problem for big groups within Asian societies – as for the Dalits in India, who traditionally were the caste that had no rights. They are granted equal rights by the Indian constitution, but still, nowadays this is not adequate for an equal position in society. Marginalisation has been the fate of indigenous people until now, as in many cases they are illiterate. Therefore, they cannot follow public discourse and, by that, cannot stand up for their rights and concerns. Nalini Arles discusses her idea of conquering spirituality. She portrays conquering spirituality as a form of exclusivism.195 This colonial form of spirituality in recent times is rejected in Asia. In contrast to exclusivism, inclusivism combines cultural aspects of different origin – indigenous and Western – and it prevents to show dominance towards marginalised worlds. An inclusive approach may be more useful in current situations in South East Asia.196 195. In Religious Sciences, the distinction between exclusivism, inclusivism or pluralism is important. It describes the way members of a religion define their tradition compared to others – whether they define their religion as superior and exclude the other as wrong, whether they define their religion as superior and accept another religion as minor, but possible, or whether they regard all traditions as equal. 196. Arles (1999). 124 Chapter 7 Felix Wilfred197 surpasses positions of inclusivism with his statement that a church within the walls of theology cannot inspire the engagement of Christians at the marketplace of Asia. One of the significant contributions of Vatican II has been to urge the church to relate to the realities and experiences of the modern world in a spirit of openness:198 But in the course of the last few decades we have become aware that the local Churches which find themselves in different contexts are challenged by situations vastly different from each other. Consequently, the theology that is required for the relationship of the church to the Asian world is also different because of cultural, social and political situations in the context. The theological reflections in Asia including the reflections within the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences and the Christian Conferences of Asia have tried to relate to the Asian situation. The effort of Vatican II and the efforts that have been done hitherto in Asia have been supported by a Theology of Public Life.199 Wilfred is convinced that some efforts have already been made to start a mutual encounter of religions in Asia. But these efforts somehow show a character which gives the impression that they remain in a colonial attitude. This says that one part has to learn while the other part claims to be the teacher, evidence that equality is still lacking. An encounter without prejudice is necessary, with interest in each other, with the wish to enrich each other and with the goal to face the great challenges of East Asia together. This would follow the goal of Public Theology. According to Wilfred, spirituality and engagement are important, not only academic theology. Reality falls short of the goal; Christian churches in Asia are mostly small and have little influence. Sometimes they tend to withdraw and live in peace. This eventually will help for a while, but it grants no future. On the other hand, people may search for places to strengthen their identity; these places will be their Christian communities and their traditions. Only these can guarantee them the power for social engagement. 197. Felix Wilfred was mentioned in the introduction. 198. Gaudium et Spes, nos. 1, 43, 71, 86 – citation in Wilfred (2015:118). 199. Wilfred (2015:118). 125 Interreligious Asian Public Theology meets (South) African Public Theology Empowerment is not only a political quality. It aims at individual processes, which are covered by Spiritual Counselling. Every encounter that leads to acceptance and awareness of a person is a form of empowerment. In daily practice, this has the effect of strengthening the way of one’s performance and the identity of a person. In this respect, Spiritual Counselling is a mediator in the concept of Public Theology. Asian societies need the engagement of religions: 1. 2. 3. 4. for the defence of liberty against despotism to solve the manifold problems connected with poverty for an inclusive and harmonious coexistence to preserve the environment. All this requires pastoral psychological concepts of Public Theology, and such concepts should have a wide range. They should include the theological and spiritual aspects of different Christian denominations, and possibly even of different religions. Multi-culturalism is inherent in most of the Asian societies: The Asian Public Theology we envisage is different from all these various forms of theologies. In Asia, as we noted earlier, this theology addresses the public issue and constitutes itself as interreligious. It is involved in a transformative praxis with movements and ideologies committed to the public cause. In this way, Asian Public Theology ceases to be sectarian and becomes inclusive. The addresses of Asian Public Theology are not Christians or Christian communities in the first place, but the larger public […]. Interestingly, Public Theology in Asia was initiated by two thinkers who do not belong to the Christian fold institutionally. We may recall here, for example, how Gandhi read and interpreted the Gospel and the Sermon of the Mount in such a way that to him it was an ally in his engagement for a non-violent society.200 Wilfred regards Public Theology in any case as an intercultural theology – anything else he excludes completely for Asia as well as for the global situation. There is no other way than encounter and discourse of religions in Asia.201 200. Wilfred (2015:119). 201. F. Wilfred pers. comm., 06 February 2017. 126 Chapter 7 The encounters have ethical content. They centre around life, around survival, around coexistence of people from many different cultures and religions. Religions have to search for positive ways of cooperation and coexistence when facing secularism all over the world: It is equally important today that the secular be tolerant of the plurality of religions and their impact in the public life of the society. In this sense Asian Public Theology, which we have qualified as inherently interreligious in Asia, could also be helpful for the presentday European situation.202 The Belgian Jesuit Jacques Dupuis203 opts for a dialogue of religions in Asia. He proposes an inclusive pluralism. He combines the unique quality of Christ with a positive acknowledgement of religious plurality. He wants to develop an inclusive and dialogical Christian theology, which appreciates the role of all the world’s religions adequately.204 Dupuis rejects the idea that the Roman Catholic Church as a worldly organisation can be compared with the eternal mystery of the church. Ecclesiology has to be a part of eschatology. The kingdom of God as an eschatological goal and the kingdom of God in history are of a different quality. Ecclesiology is rooted in the salvation of the world through Christ. By that, the church has to serve the kingdom of God and shall evangelise with the values of Christ. These can be found even beyond the borders of the church. In humankind, as long as people live according to Christ’s values and open themselves to the Holy Spirit.205 This lays a theological foundation for further development of intercultural Spiritual Counselling in Asia from a Christian perspective. It is useful to define the position of Christians in the 202. Wilfred (2015:120). 203. Jacques Dupuis is already mentioned in the introduction. 204. Dupuis (2010:458ff.). 205. Dupuis comments in the Enzyklika Redemptoris missio (Johannes Paul II, 7. December 1990) in Dupuis (2010:458 ff.). 127 Interreligious Asian Public Theology meets (South) African Public Theology interreligious encounter in Asian societies, even under the dominance of Islam in Indonesia. It implies the Christians’ wish to maintain tradition and identity as one aspect, and it leads to an openness of shared activities with the other as a second aspect. The most important aspect for an interreligious theology in Asia is found in culturalisation. Lack of education, poverty and hunger act as deficits, but good familial ties and indigenous traditions still function as positive social resources belonging to worlds that normally do not use abstract or philosophical language, where practicability is necessary. I shall finish my study with some practical and theological paradigms for Spiritual Counselling in South East Asia. God is rice – God is in the encounter – God is in the future The subject of this study was the implementation of therapeutical impulses from the USA in South East Asian churches, religions and societies. Spiritual Counselling spread out from the USA to Europe, Australia, New Zealand and South America in the 20th century. It spread to regions with indigenous traditions like Africa, parts of South America and Asia, where it was transformed. In Indonesia’s camps for IDP, daily life was costly, people had little food and rice seemed far too expensive. The Christian theologian Septemmy E. Lakawa dares the comparison in the following phrase: God is rice, is crucial for daily life. If rice is too expensive, how can people believe in it (him)? If rice is expensive, how can we tell good stories about it (him)? If rice is expensive, how can religious communities speak of a relation of economy and faith?206 Lakawa aims at a caring form of Public Theology. She uses terms coming from natural religions: God becomes material – rice – food – mediator of life. 206. Lakawa (2011:120). 128 Chapter 7 There are some similarities to the Eucharist: God becomes material – symbolically. God offers himself in a kenotic way of life – this is the essence of Lakawa’s theology. It is the centre of the paradigm of the ‘wounded healer’,207 of a spiritual encounter in the context of marginalised souls. Pastors shall follow and resemble Christ in offering their limited existence as examples of faith, trust and suffering, if necessary, they shall detect and follow, ‘the (hidden) beauty of (men and) women in vulnerable conditions’.208 Lakawa’s arguments do not aim at an extended form of theological theory. Her arguments keep close to the daily practice, to the daily language of her fellow citizens in Indonesia. She reflects theology mainly in the form of anthropology. She is concerned with her people, their physical needs, their psychological challenges. She is in search of helping and healing forms of liturgical expression and spiritual caring. She is opting for a helpful form of communication, for progress and peace, for freedom and self-fulfilment, for the absence of violence. Vulnerability is the keyword – especially in the aftermath of various conflicts in regions where people have to live together after wars. Lakawa describes that people relied partly on indigenous traditions in order to start reconciliation processes. Altogether this was not really sufficient for the successful regaining of their mental and physical health. Additionally – or firstly – trauma counselling with women from the war-affected villages on the Moluccas was necessary. But it tended to be easier when using common indigenous traditions as well. Lakawa describes the use of Christian resources to overcome grief and loss. A ritual with a liturgy accompanies the anniversary of an attack on a Christian village. It supports the people spiritually. Reading and remembering biblical texts like psalms or the story of the walk of Jesus’ disciples from Jerusalem to 207. Nouwen (1972). 208. Hutapea (1999:1). 129 Interreligious Asian Public Theology meets (South) African Public Theology Emmaus after the crucifixion help them to define and overcome their situation.209, 210 Vulnerability is present with many people and requires attention. Spiritual Counselling tries to answer the challenges. The Catholic theologian Henri Nouwen gives a reason to do this; for him, a Christian has to participate in Christ’s kenotic way of life: Making one’s own wounds a source of healing, therefore, does not call for a sharing of superficial personal pains, but for a constant willingness to see one’s own pain and suffering as rising from the depths of the human condition that we all share. To some, the concept of the Wounded Healer might sound morbid and unhealthy. They might feel that the ideal of self-fulfillment is replaced by an ideal of self-castigation, and that pain is romanticized instead of critized [sic].211 Nouwen lists methods and ways to encounter vulnerability, such as care, compassion, understanding, forgiveness, fellowship or community. He himself prefers ‘hospitality’: Hospitality is the virtue that allows us to break through the narrowness of our own fears and to open our houses to the stranger, with the intuition that salvation comes to us in the form of a tired traveler. Hospitality makes anxious disciples into powerful witnesses, makes suspicious owners into generous givers, and makes closed-minded sectarians into interested recipients of new ideas and insights.212 Nouwen’s concept was developed in the 1970s. Hope for change was all around, and this hope was globally shared by churches. Recently theologians have a critical view of such revolutionary impulses. But they still appreciate the inspiration derived from the passionate concept. 209. Luke 24:13–33. 210. Lakawa (2011:159–162). 211. Nouwen (1972:95). 212. Nouwen (1972:95). 130 Chapter 7 The theological impulse is still important: Henri Nouwen identified the impact of helping people in his seminal work entitled The Wounded Healer. Nouwen warns that no-one can help anyone without becoming involved, without entering with his whole person into the painful situation, without taking the risk of becoming hurt, wounded or even destroyed in the process. Assisting others without sustaining healthy self-care practices can be dangerous. Accumulated chronic stress in caring for others can extract a significant personal price, yielding a wide range of negative consequences. Who can save a child from a burning house without taking the risk of being hurt by the flames? Who can listen to a story of loneliness and despair without taking the risk of experiencing similar pains in his own heart and even losing his precious peace of mind? In short: Who can take away suffering without entering it?213 Compassion is the most eminent quality of Nouwen’s concept. It is juxtaposed with the quest for a limitation of compassion in case of overwhelming challenges when dealing professionally with suffering and traumatic stress. Asian Spiritual Counselling meets (South) African Spiritual and/or Pastoral Counselling David Ito, in a theoretical and describing attitude, speaks of a wide and global range of cultural layers for Asia. They should be combined with a ‘general view of counselling’. In contrast, South African counsellors tend to have a look at the local and focussed challenge of counselling. Many cultural layers may contradict each other. In the aftermath of the apartheid regime, many people still suffer from serious traumatic stresses and pains. These sentiments are even nowadays a part of their daily lives. Presence and compassion are the qualities a counsellor may provide. The counsellor as a person is challenged to be a proxy to maintain hope and to survive many struggles. The demands for personal 213. Marsay (2016:57–58). 131 Interreligious Asian Public Theology meets (South) African Public Theology qualities are high, and the emotional capacities are limited, and therefore the counsellor may suffer from exhaustion. Following the Asian example of expressing theology and spirituality in common language, I use images of God and his qualities for everyday life. God is in the limitation Nowadays, the focus lies on the fact that during so many challenges that derive from the daily practice of trauma counselling, even the caregiver will need a ‘wounded healer’. Even the caregiver may need caring, otherwise caregivers may end up with burnout. This cannot be a desirable result of having internalised theology and having practised a compassionate counselling theory. The South African psychotherapist Gloria Marsay shares Nouwen’s proposal to humanise theology. Marsay, working with traumatised persons, regards Nouwen’s ideas from her professional experience and daily reality. She comments from her point of view: Compassion Fatigue (CF) is a form of secondary traumatic stress and affects all those who are positioned to offer care to others. Caregivers of all people who have difficulties or/and who are vulnerable including educators, nurses, police officers, journalists to mention only a few.214 In spite of the limitation, a kenotic attitude is necessary in any encounter in Spiritual Counselling. Response always implies a risk, but it is the bridge over the gap of suffering and loss, to tell and to mirror feelings while listening, to share a common path. It is practical spirituality as Public Theology. Septemmy E. Lakawa refers to the danger of a second trauma in the counselling professions during the aftermath of the Moluccan wars. Conflicts and solutions are multifaceted. To approach a solution needs much time. The violent conflicts produced many victims among the women, and Lakawa’s clients 214. Marsay (2016:58). 132 Chapter 7 were victims of rape. Counsellors working with them had to have strong psychological resources in order to stand the suffering and to handle the cultural differences which are implied in the encounters with mainly indigenous women.215 Helmut Weiß explains216 that intercultural counselling deals with difference. To handle the cultural differences is an important task for the leader of a course. He or she has to be able to deal with a possible lack of resonance or the risk of feeling misunderstood: During the pause after the session I realize more than ever the limitation of my concept of strengthening the individual personality. The experience, that our worlds are far from each other, makes me vulnerable, maybe the members of the group as well. I have no solution for overcoming this estrangement. It is even difficult for me to write about it. The words and sentences I use do not express my deeper feelings and what I want to share.217 Weiß’s experience is double-faceted. It results in vulnerability, it results in greater sensitivity, and it can open horizons for a learning process about cultural differences. By using the coaching method client and counsellor share the same path. The path shall lead to an extended freedom. This fact may comprise that they negotiate thoroughly regarding the choice of their methods. Coaching does not primarily represent a form of leading, but it is more a method of accompanying. Coaching provides a gentle approach to mutual giving and taking during the encounter of counsellor and client. Therefore, the method of coaching can be interpreted as a smart solution to bridge the gap when interpreting and overcoming cultural difference. This is what Busur Emas described at the 11th conference of APCPCC in Jakarta in 2017.218 215. S.E. Lakawa pers. comm., 09 September 2017. 216. Weiß (2001:15). 217. Weiß (2002:n.p.). 218. Emas (2017). 133 Interreligious Asian Public Theology meets (South) African Public Theology God is in compassion and compassion fatigue Compassion is an underlying and fundamental quality of counselling. It is an important foundation for any practice, as well as an expression of spirituality. Compassion is necessary in order to overcome social and psychological or intellectual gaps between counsellor and client. Without compassion there will be no personal relationship between counsellor and client. Working with compassion implies dangers for the professional counsellor. Compassion tends to exceed the emotional capacity of a counsellor if the setting is too challenging. And this may be the case in many counselling settings after and in traumatic stress, with clients who are survivors of war and rape. If the counsellor exceeds his and/or her capacities of spirit and soul, the work with the attitude of compassion becomes overwhelming. The client’s vulnerability may exceed the counsellor’s capacity. An experience that tends to become increasingly common in social work is that professional life counsellors already feel exhausted at an early stage. If supervision is not provided accordingly, counsellors may be overrun by their profession, losing their inner strength and balance. Sometimes they lose their spiritual capacities as well. All those experiences may lead to CF, to a second trauma. Having accompanied the client, the counsellor possibly loses all his and/or her creative energy. In this case, realising the signals of personal exhaustion is of great relevance. The counsellor has to practise self-reflective Care and Counselling. He and/or she has to realise and accept their limitations, even the limitation of compassion. Compassion fatigue is a form of trauma, and it should not affect the counsellor’s personality. Its consequence has to be the implementation of the counsellor’s self-protection. This should lead to effective preventive healthcare for those who work in the realm of caregiving and counselling in challenging situations. 134 Chapter 7 Institutions that engage counsellors should be sensitive to the signs of CF and they should be careful with the soul of persons who work in aid professions. Mutual counselling is one of the preconditions of successful and enduring encounters in Care and Counselling. God is in-between Care at the in-between – the definition focuses on an adequate characterisation of contemporary practice of Care and Counselling. In Asia and Africa, people in many respects are spending their daily lives between different areas and surroundings. They are kept in inner and outer migration, in the in-between; some examples include: 1. two places – the geographical home and family and the place where they have to live for work 2. the home, which they left because of war and the new country they fled to 3. indigenous traditions and modern technology 4. in patchwork families 5. health and/or freedom and dependence 6. humankind and nature. According to Magezi: The above observations challenge pastoral care to provide effective care at the in-between of people’s lives. Pastoral care at the inbetween of people’s lives can be both a metaphor for ministry as well as denote space and context of pastoral care provision. As a metaphor for ministry, it refers to the nature of pastoral care practice. This implies that the pastoral care provider provides care at an in-between of many issues that affect people’s lives. And a care provider or counsellor has to make sense of this complexity and facilitate coping and meaning.219 At the same time, care at the in-between denotes a state of global temporariness, a flux space where people have no fixed positions. It refers to people who have moved from their familiar environments, community or country to new environments in search of happiness or better life (professional migrants) or those displaced by 219. Magezi (2016a:70). 135 Interreligious Asian Public Theology meets (South) African Public Theology conflicts (refugees). This in-between therefore describes a space of confusion, anxiety, temporariness, combination of loss and gain. It challenges one to ask identity questions namely, what does it mean to have a home from your home or family? It challenges one to cultivate ‘new muscles’ for coping in life.220 According to Magezi, Spiritual Counselling is a provider of links – it is a form of networking from old towards new experiences. The counsellor accompanies the client, and clients link their current situation in a hospital or jail with former impulses of gratefulness for still existing life. Such links accompany every encounter. They are resources for hope and new perspectives: Notwithstanding the current contribution of pastoral care, there is growing concern that pastoral care should become more public to engage in public matters (Miller-McLemore 2004). Pastoral care should engage in public matters rather than only focus on intrapsychic matters that narrowly focus on Christians.221 That is why Spiritual Counselling is public – it is open to the awareness of persons who live in in-between spaces: Pastoral care within this situation involves establishing an operative ecclesiology where the care ministry will be located. Pastoral care intervention should be both preventive and mitigation focused.222 Spiritual Counselling aims at spiritual processes in interaction and in a personal relationship between single persons. The partners have to search for common ground – they cannot become a self without the Other. This fact is important for both partners: client and counsellor. For the counsellor, it is a professional task, and therefore he and/or she acts with as much professional routine as is necessary to maintain the skills of individual health protection. The client may experience more significant emotional impacts from the situation. 220. Magezi (2016a:70–71). 221. Magezi (2016a:73). 222. Magezi (2016a:76). 136 Chapter 8 Transformations of Spiritual Counselling in multiple modernities Magezi’s examples, deriving from the current changes in African societies, may resemble some developments in Asia. South East Asia has a long tradition of migration. Especially young men leave their homes to work in foreign cities or countries. When returning, they were equipped to settle down and have a family. Today migration for work leads to Hongkong, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states and the USA or Europe. It is a chance to survive and a challenge for personal development. Women and men in the broader regions of South East Asia leave their country for work and studies. Some limitations of travelling still exist for women, resulting from tradition or mainly from strict Islamic morals. But in general, women are part of this travel migration. Noel B. Salazar223 writes about Merantau, a century-old form of migration in Indonesia: The study of Southeast Asia needs to take account of mobility across the region and its various cultural and material manifestations. If we 223. Noel B. Salazar is an anthropologist at the University of Leuven, Belgium. How to cite: Elsdörfer, U., 2019, ‘Transformations of Spiritual Counselling in multiple modernities’, in Spirituality in diversity: South East Asia meets South Africa Towards a global view of Spiritual Counselling, 2nd edn., pp. 137–143, AOSIS, Cape Town. https://doi.org/10.4102/ aosis.2019.BK156.08 137 Transformations of Spiritual Counselling in multiple modernities assume that mobility is an inherent part of Southeast Asian states and societies, then we can first assume that people moved and brought elements of culture backwards and forwards; and, second, that wider patterns of fluidity are built into local epistemology and ontology. Mobility is certainly central to the lives of many people in Indonesia […]. However, as described in this chapter, Indonesian patterns of human movement have undergone dynamic changes, linked to various regional political events and circumstances. In the past, indigenous patterns of circular mobility tended to revolve around trade networks and seasonal subsistence but, with the expansion of European colonialism and global capitalism, mobility has shifted to accommodate and deal with these changes. In many cases, externally generated changes reinforced traditional forms of mobility, and added new ones.224 As long as migration is and was common in South East Asian countries, the coexistence of religions has and had a long tradition. Muslims and Christians as adherents of colonial systems and Buddhists and Hindus as members of Asian religions had to live together for centuries. They basically knew the teachings, rituals and life of the other religion. Tolerance was practised, yet wars and conflicts occurred from time to time. Coexistence was the requirement for general survival. In history, it was mainly disturbed by reasons of power, of power executed by cultural foreigners like Europeans and Arabs. Power is still an important tool to overcome the gaps resulting from economic and cultural differences. The power of strong rulers once united Indonesia politically, but conflicts along the religious lines showed the fragility of that union. A sense for the acceptance of cultural diversity has to be developed by hard work, and Indonesia is in the midst of that process; it is a state centred on developing political and social agendas, with a population living in multiple modernities.225 I come back to Lakawa’s interpretation of the 1999–2000 violence between Christians and Muslims in the Moluccas, Indonesia, and 224. Salazar (2017:n.p.). 225. Multiple modernities refers to a sociological concept by Shmuel Eisenstadt. My source is a lecture given by Hahn (2012). 138 Chapter 8 the aftermath. A form of interreligious dialogue was practised after the war – on grass-roots levels an in-between war and peace. Interreligious dialogue, in this case, did not represent part of an academic discipline; it represented a renewed face-to-face encounter between Muslims and Christians in their villages or home town. Lakawa concluded her research with the following reflections: This dissertation started with a description and interpretation of the recent history of communal violence in turn-of-the-century Indonesia so as to provide a broad socio-political context […] for the study. The detailed retelling of the local Christian narrative of the recent MuslimChristian communal violence […] provides a complex layer describing the local and religious dimensions of the violence. The narrative also unveils the ways in which a community of faith makes use of its religious and cultural resources (i.e. Adat) to give meaning to its experience of violence and to respond to the aftermath of violence. The focus on the multiple layers of the collective and the individual stories, the visual and the physical (the village), arts and architecture, scripture and prayer, liturgy and ritual, discourse and practice is intended to highlight the need for theological reflection on the multiple layers of local Christian’s responses to the aftermath of violence. The June 19 attack, the Duma community’s memory of the attack, and its aftermath practices are all reminders of how a community’s response to violence and its physical place can be understood by knowing its physical place. Here, the community’s story is inseparable from its place, Duma village. Locating the local Christian story of the aftermath within the whole body of the community reveals the importance of identity, martyrdom, and hospitality.226 Spirituality is connected to hope. It expresses the ability to suffer for a greater aim, and it includes the capability of resilience. It provides means of mental and psychological growth. Spirituality can exceed the limits of a religion or a denomination. Spirituality may be practised in the realm of existing religions. Additionally, it has some space at the margins of official religions. Spirituality is access to life with manifold sources. To be able to practise spirituality is a great goal for many people. Its symbols are regarded to be important contributions to life. 226. Lakawa (2011:354). 139 Transformations of Spiritual Counselling in multiple modernities Interreligious dialogue is successful when these symbols of life are searched for. Some theoretical and practical preconditions can be fulfilled to gain such an aim. One has to revisit one’s own tradition by learning from the Other. Under the presupposition of a deepened reinterpretation of the own religious tradition and theology, an encounter will become a spiritual revival for both partners. Lakawa describes the way in which the Christians of the Moluccas regained the spiritual identity of their own religious tradition after severe damage and loss of lives and material goods. Her descriptions fit the regional Muslims as well, as far as they try to regain their religious identity after civil war and the destruction of their home town in the Moluccas: The detailed retelling of the local Christian narrative of the recent Muslim-Christian communal violence […] provides a complex layer describing the local and religious dimensions of the violence. The narrative also unveils the ways in which a community of faith makes use of its religious and cultural resources (i.e. adat [sic]) to give meaning to its experience of violence and to respond to the aftermath of violence. The focus on the multiple layers of the collective and the individual stories, the visual and the physical (the village), arts and architecture, scripture and prayer, liturgy and ritual, discourse and practice is intended to highlight the need for theological reflection on the multiple layers of local Christian’s responses to the aftermath of violence.227 Lakawa describes the means of using cultural layers and practices to fulfil the demand of regaining peace and democratic structures in the midst of cultural and religious diversity. She refers to indigenous worlds in Indonesia and she trusts in the basic culture of Adat, which is still alive and meaningful for the people. Indonesia has urban regions, and it is here that indigenous customs will fade away, and people have to contribute to lifestyles and global challenges of the 21st century. Their indigenous cultural layers will possibly persist, but they will not express them in forms 227. Lakawa (2011:354). 140 Chapter 8 of ritual and tradition. Gradually, a mixture of modernity and tradition has emerged – a multiple modernity. People may have in mind relics of indigenous religion (e.g. veneration of ancestors). They hold on to it from their rural descent while living in urban regions; they remember dances, festival rituals, and they may even practice them together with their relatives when they are at home, or they practise them when meeting friends from their region. Simultaneously they try to build up their small IT enterprise in Jakarta according to worldwide standards. Economic survival in the worldwide sector and in the global economy provides a great challenge, and it requires their ability to adapt to changing situations. Religion and culture seem to be part of the vulnerable backgrounds – they face the threat of losing their their influence. In local surroundings, young people’s energies invested in building a family and a home are accompanied by the family or the entire clan. But this clan will not be present in Jakarta, and if members of the clan visit their family in Jakarta, they might encounter some estrangement of their family members to their traditional life. Following the trend of urbanisation, the claim for deeper roots in individuals’ own culture is threatened worldwide and many of the traditional customs are fading away. Marriage and bringing up children in Jakarta seem to develop very differently from that in a local small town somewhere in Indonesia. This may have the consequence of marginalising traditional, religious, and by that, spiritual approaches to life. Nevertheless, people still request counselling or guidance in spirituality. Counsellors who are trained to listen in a sensitive manner have learnt about different psychological, sociological, economic, religious and cultural layers that will provide adequate forms of assistance to their clients. These will empower them to approach the challenges of urban and globalised life. By sharing their hopes and threats while listening, counsellors can empower the clients to remain rooted in local communities and local traditions as well. 141 Transformations of Spiritual Counselling in multiple modernities The idea of multiple modernities is based on a special awareness. Ambiguous experiences accompany many people worldwide and every day. Ethnographers divide this awareness into two components: 1. They speak of a hard modernity, of scientific, of economic and technical rationality as the predominant frame of reference for economic and social development and of human progress. 2. Contrary to that is a soft modernity. This soft modernity comprises spirituality, cultural traditions, literature and art of a country, of a culture. Those characteristics are unique for a certain local tradition, while technology is used globally. When speaking about a general theory of Spiritual Counselling,228 the different layers of cultural and religious traditions and their representation in the individual’s psyche are addressed. These have to be understood and appreciated in an adequate way of mentioning and awareness. They refer to the practice of spiritual counsellors, who are willing to approach and understand their clients in various, mostly urban, regions across continents. Spiritual Care and Counselling belong to soft modernity. Alternative modernity focuses on the unique way that regional cultures have to search and find their accesses to life in the 21st century. Alternative modernity is rooted in the assumption that the Western definitions of modernity cannot be held universal. Therefore, postcolonial theology refers to a concept of alternative modernity and meeting global standards with a culture’s genuine contributions. The concept of indigenous Spiritual Counselling is heading in this direction as well. Transformations of theory and practice of Spiritual Counselling are the preconditions of all necessary local and global developments; meeting the spiritual and psychological needs of traumatised victims of conflicts in rural regions is merely a matter of an alternative instead of a general approach. 228. See Ito (2016). 142 Chapter 8 Spiritual Counselling as theory and practice has to consider and meet the requirements of urban life in-between. It has to consider how to preserve or empower rural and indigenous environments, instead of destroying them. The cure of the global and the local soul is a valuable task for a spiritual counsellor. 143 Chapter 9 Towards a frame of diversity in spirituality and Spiritual Care and Counselling The modern concept, practice and understanding of spirituality has its main impact in connecting people from diverse worlds. In many cases they are open to spirituality and they express the wish to be accepted without any preconditions and standards. Spirituality provides an inner gateway to wholeness in the midst of the daily challenges of a fractured world. Therefore, spirituality may gain importance for persons who live in-between various individual and collective worlds. Spiritual practice assists people to be resilient in the midst of their daily life and the requirements of their societies, their families, their work surroundings and their political circumstances. How to cite: Elsdörfer, U., 2019, ‘Towards a frame of diversity in spirituality and Spiritual Care and Counselling’, in Spirituality in diversity: South East Asia meets South Africa Towards a global view of Spiritual Counselling, 2nd edn., pp. 145–147, AOSIS, Cape Town. https://doi.org/10.4102/aosis.2019.BK156.09 145 Towards a frame of diversity in spirituality and Spiritual Care and Counselling Spirituality, when practised as a source of individual empowerment and liberation, has an influence on sociological, psychological and political theory building and on processes of change. Gradually, it leads to a renewal of mentalities. Spirituality can be the source for people who are searching for a unifying and empowering religious energy behind their mostly ambiguous daily experience. In many cases, practising spirituality can lead to better health or healthcare. It may even lead to a deeper and fuller experience of life. Practising spirituality somehow counts and relies on situations being qualified for an open and spiritual encounter. Sometimes, especially in crisis moments, these situations of spiritual openness will come by chance and by necessity. Sometimes approaches to spiritual experiences have to be prepared and have to be implemented. Mutual practical encounter in a group may provide access to a deeper sense of spiritual encounter, if religious actors give a social shelter and a frame, for example, in providing rooms for meetings. They should be able to provide a mental space for the inner growth of persons attending the groups and for the social development of their members. Spirituality is a source of resilience for the various threats which societies in Asia and Africa encounter. In Asia, natural disasters require high resilience capacities, and in Africa, people suffer from devastating illnesses or even hunger time and again. Some African countries are developed, and their constitutions prove them to be modern and democratic societies, with spirituality being a possible engine for progress. In parts of Africa, violent conflicts, political suppression, murder and rape still persist. Besides practising semi-political activities such as reconciliation negotiations, resilience capabilities can arise from mutual Care and Counselling, as long as counsellors will have enough assistance to maintain their own health and their own capacities for spiritual sources. Resilience can increase when traditional spiritual practice is used as a resource for many people in rural areas. Traditional, indigenous 146 Chapter 9 and modern counselling provide mutual consolation, and they are able to nurture and stabilise spirit and soul. The impulses coming from these forms of liberating and empowering spirituality are as limited as the impulses coming from an empowering counselling praxis, as long as they remain singular. Instruments of spirituality and methods of individual counselling cannot suffice when many important structures of a society are often failing. Counselling and spirituality cannot prevent conflicts, and cannot abolish violent conflicts, as is shown globally. But Spiritual Counselling has not yet lost its influence although current political threats emerge. Spirituality and counselling opt for hope. For example, the AIDS epidemic in Africa required that people have hope and that they should be treated with sensitivity. It was most important to provide good and effective medicine, which is the basic requirement for the treatment of AIDS patients. Medicine has to be accompanied by education and by mental and spiritual assistance. Care and counselling as part of Public Theology in (South) Africa was and is challenged. It is challenged to question the traditional religious thinking, as well as, in special cases, to use traditional religious thinking, as a positive goal. This depends on whether it promotes humanity or not. Spirituality and counselling may assist in achieving a changing awareness. Spirituality and counselling may accompany changes in societies, but it cannot provide solutions. The ‘hope’ still exists – by contrast to some threatening current developments worldwide – that active interreligious civil societies will emerge instead of fading away. And there is the hope that this will come true despite difficulties, step by step. A ‘frame of diversity’ has to be developed globally. And it has to be promoted in the marketplace of daily local and global social life – by politics and cultural agenda. 147 Appendices The following document has been used in this book with the necessary permissions from the authors and/or publishers: Saragih, M.A., n.d., ‘Documents from mid-point and end-point evaluation during a Clinical Pastoral Education training’, n.p. (unpublished paper received via email communication, on 05 May 2017) Appendix 1 Documents from midpoint and end-point evaluation during a Clinical Pastoral Education training Mercy Anna Saragih A long-term education in clinical Pastoral Care and Counselling is reported by an Indonesian supervisor. Centre: PGI. Cikini Hospital, Jakarta Dates of unit:20 June – 26 August 2016 Mid-Point Evaluation Rev. Genetically, M. is Bataknese, but she is a Javanese in her attitude and behavior. She is kind and soft but she is also firm and loving. I think that is Christ character in her. At the beginning I could say my relationship with her was not so close. But after many meetings starting with life story, verbatim discussion from other participants up to my own verbatim and talking face to face with my supervisor, she slowly reached into my deepest heart. Now we 151 Documents from mid-point and end-point evaluation are very close. I feel we have no more distance. Supervisor has taken the most important part in the training process and my healing point which all these times I did not even realize as hurt. The role of supervisor is very meaningful. With my supervisor I started to see and look back all my emotions in the right proportion. My supervisor has facilitated the training really well that made me realize that I have some hurt and pain that I don’t realize before. Life story and verbatim discussion, face to face meeting with my supervisor, has helped me critically see where those pains and problems started. I was helped to see and identify all my emotions in the same weight and proportion even to the raging emotion so I could express them in a balance way. Together with my supervisor I could see and deal with the leaps from all the questions in verbatim which signify the root of the problems. With the help of my supervisor I could train myself to avoid biases or the turnings so I would not be swayed by my own problems or my own selfish desire but focus on the patients. Rev. My relation [sic] with my supervisor Rev. M. since the beginning until now has been really good like two best friends. She does not limit herself and that even drew everybody closer. She listened attentively to every input and opinion from each group through the training sessions. I was really impressed with her in the way she listened, paid attention and looked at you in the eyes and dig up all your emotions. She was very capable at her job. She also encouraged me to learn and get the knowledge; she is a good supervisor. Nurse This is what I feel about you from the beginning until now, you are patient, calm, sincere, understanding, humble, soft and kind, faithful and accept other people as who they are, honest to yourself. I feel glad that I know you and learnt from you and got knowledge of how to know learn to know myself and other people through listening to my feelings and supervising me to understand what had happened to me. In the end, I could open my eyes to 152 Appendix 1 see into my own life which is full of colors and that is beautiful. All things happened in my life through many people have brought me an understanding that I am special in the eyes of God. He is making a nice painting of my life with His love and I want to serve Him in His ministry. Rev. Graduated from the same theological school, Rev. M. is also my friend at PERWATI, both as women pastors. Rev Mercy has contacted me personally to join the training. God has worked through her to put me in the training. She has been a blessing to me. She is very attentive and very alert. She always knows how to find issues within oneself to be healed. She has opened big chance for everyone to give their opinion. She is humble though she is our teacher she has carried herself as one of us, equally one of us by eating together and walking together. Rev. My first impression the first time I met you was you are a very typical strong and firm Bataknese woman. That is clearly depicted in your face. Every time you got into the class, while you were telling us about the class materials, I wonder how is your relationship with your family, with your husband and children? Do you act the same way you treat us or different? But all those impressions were gone after seeing you smile big when our friend Joseph told a joke in the middle of the discussion. When we all hanged out together in Jakarta fair, you seemed to enjoy our companionship together. You acted just like us, not our teacher. You could make is so easy for us that we did not feel awkward around you, like you are just one of us, no difference, no distance. We had our moment together like friends when we all ate in the restaurants Toba Tabo and Tinoor. You have helped me see part of my life that has brought obstacles for me to not effectively serve and work. You have introduced me a medicine that I can take to heal me from my past. You have returned myself into the right place and enabled me to see with my new eyes. 153 Documents from mid-point and end-point evaluation Rev. I had preoccupied perception of how a supervisor should look like. When a supervisor entered a room, she should bring a bag full of books and laptop, formally dressed, ready with her LCD and when she gets to her table, she will carry her drink or water. All participants sit well and are ready to receive the material. But I was so shocked when the person who entered the room was a woman dressed in simple way but nice and polite, friendly she greeted: ‘Good Morning, Everyone […]. how are you? Oh, I see that you all just join here? Welcome to CPE!’ (while she at the same time was extending her hand and shaking hand with each of us and giving us a warm welcome). She just carried a regular size bag like most women do. That is you Rev. M., S.Th, M. Si, the CPE Supervisor at PGI Cikini Hospital. That is my first impression when I saw you: simple, friendly, familiar and cool. When the training has been on for 1 week, I have come to admire you every day when you could dig the past experience from each CPE participant (specially my past life) that effect my life. You always gave your full attention and gave your full effort so all participants could gain the knowledge that you have already had. In the IC dialogue you have taken me to realize that my mother (not my father) had a very important role in my education and those of my siblings too. You also have brought me out of my fears that haunting my life and my wife’s. For me you are a supervisor but you are also a friend that shows closeness even though it is outside the class. You have given us a lot of wise saying that boost our spirit, motivation for me and this group. ‘The first person who is responsible to appreciate us is ourselves.’ That is one wise saying you told us that I will never forget. Participant The first time I met Rev. M., I see her as somebody who is calm and cool. As time went on, my first impression was gone. Rev. M. is a great supervisor. The way she looked into my eyes, enabled me to open myself, in that way she could help facilitate me to find better way when I come and face problems. She has enabled me and everyone in the group to see our past the way we had never 154 Appendix 1 seen or thought before. In doing her ministry, Rev. M. has never been reluctant to appreciate and give compliment or give input and help fix my mistake so I can be a better person when I listen to my patient and I can help support and strengthen them. Thank you, Mam. End-point evaluation Rev. I symbolize M. as a paddy plant full with its ripe grains. I should give you a special appreciation. It is not only me who thinks like that but everyone in the group has the same opinion as I do. This CPE class was only possible by the grace of God that for the first time it could be facilitated by our own fellow country woman from Indonesia. I feel proud of this achievement. Your have achieved the quality and the capacity of what a supervisor should be and how your achievement have been counted by many other countries in South East Asia. Talking about you, it seems everything is normal, except that you have this high achievement and knowledge. Why did I say so? In some trainings that I have ever joined I could see big difference between the supervisor/ instructor and the participants. It is hard for me to explain what is the difference, but I can say that it is so obvious from the outside. I don’t find it in you. The more we spent time with you, the closer we have become. The one thing that make us different is you have different title, you are the supervisor, while me and others are the participants. You have made me able to understand and know the calling of being a pastor in the hospital. You have taught me the knowledge of life, that is the ability to accept and give unlimited attention. I feel so moved when you really helped me out of the grip of my past life experience I thank God for this improvement. You expect me to grow with better conscience and appreciate myself. You are a simple person despite the fact that you have high knowledge and incredible capacity. That is why I gave you the symbol of a paddy plant with its golden ripe grains. The more knowledge you have, the more you become humble by sharing it to more and more people. 155 Documents from mid-point and end-point evaluation Participant Rev M., I chose a road as your symbol, because in my opinion you are the hands and foot that God use to lead me and direct my way in life. At first you tried to get to know me. When you already knew me, you have helped me to see the way out of my problem or my struggle. You facilitated me incredibly to find my way and change the way I think, so I can help myself to turn away and not to stay very long in the wrong path. I thank God for sending you to be my supervisor. You have set example in the way that I cannot imagine that in all I have seen a person that I can make as role model to help me as a chaplain. I personally admire you as a CPE Supervisor. Indirectly you teach that in order for me to do my job, I have to love it first. That way I can reach my goal that I have set before. I feel I have become a better person by joining this CPE. I can feel how God has helped me communicate better to my parents, my boyfriend and the hospital director. I know that I tend to keep the grudge rather than talk about it to the person. Then you have made me realize that I need to know how to communicate better so I can deal with life and all the problems. Rev. It is hard for me to find a symbol that suits you because I have never known you before or your family. I know you just as my supervisor. You have great ability in supervising and leading us to find and see our past experience with new perspective. You have equipped us and enabled us to be better Chaplain with awareness to have the empathy of what the patients felt. Because of that I chose a compass to symbolize you. A compass is an instrument containing a magnetized pointer that shows the direction of magnetic north and bearings from it. A sailor needs to have compass in order for him to decide the right direction. Compass has a lot of component in it and all these components need to work properly so the compass can also work properly. Rev M., in you all the parts of the compass work properly. You have done training 12 times in and outside the country. A compass is a simple thing that will not attract people to wear it. Yet without it, a ship will get lost and its use will save so many people from being 156 Appendix 1 ashtray in the ocean, in the desert, in the jungle even in the snowy mountains. That is how I picture you. You present yourself in simple way. You speak in simple way that people can easily understand. You eat what we eat and show no any [sic] special than us. Yet behind all that simplicity, you have a great potential that is so important to help people, not hundred not thousands but millions of God’s creation, that have been swayed by their problems, get confused to choose the right way to go, and find dead end and no way to get out. It is not because you are physically strong but because you show your function as a compass to show our own identity. 157 The following document has been used in this book with the necessary permissions from the authors and/or publishers: Elsdörfer, U., 2016, ‘Chances and Challenges of Solidarity: ICPCC from post-colonialism to global challenges’, in U. Elsdörfer & T.D. Ito (eds.), Compassion for one another in the Global Village, LIT Verlag, Berlin. Appendix 2 Towards the International Congress on Pastoral Care and Counselling (11th ICPCC Congress in Malaysia 2019) Ulrike Elsdörfer Chances and challenges of solidarity: ICPCC from postcolonialism to global challenges229 ICPCC as a movement is rooted in the idea of encouraging or empowering individuals to do their work in hospitals, elder care homes, in hospices, in the Army or in correction centres or as religious leaders. This is a difficult task, it demands a lot of energy and mental and spiritual dedication to the work. Qualified persons from most different regions of the world join the ICPCC 229. Elsdörfer (2016:8–12) 159 Towards the International Congress on Pastoral Care and Counselling Congresses in order to present and learn more about the current state regarding practice and theory of Pastoral Care and Counselling. Travelling seems to be one of the greatest pleasures of humankind. Whenever I read comments, letters, personal remarks in my research on the history of the ICPCC Congresses, the following words were found: ‘And after the conference we visited this wonderful country and had great experiences.’ Travelling and encountering places and people of meaning and significance for societies or at least for one’s own life is the best part of an effective education. And it can help to build bridges and to develop peace. When Pastoral Care and Counselling came to Europe in the 1960s one big challenge to deal with emotionally and intellectually was the Holocaust. It was a great historical burden and impact not only for those who had survived war and Holocaust, but also for the next generations to learn about. Documents of these early times, when ICPCC was not yet established, but the emerging movement of Pastoral Care and Counselling fascinated the Europeans as well, show details of the atmosphere of those meetings. They tell about impressive visits in Auschwitz/Poland, about Jewish speakers, about their lectures and reports on a Sabbath devotion with an intercultural group in the venue in a town close to Auschwitz. Visitors of this meeting were not only religious leaders but also members of the Solidarnosz, then being the uprising movement towards a humanistic socialism in Poland and in the rest of the socialist world. The Iron Curtain was the second subject of the international meetings at least in Europe. Another subject for many years of the ICPCC encounters in conferences was feminism and its impact on emotions, on power and structures in religions and in civil societies. Since the beginning of this movement a lot of publications have been dedicated to this subject, either from hermeneutic feminist approaches or from sociologists, psychologists and 160 Appendix 2 psychotherapists – just to list the ICPCC frame of reference. The researchers as well as their subjects were Western-world-style. During recent years international feminism has had to consider the cultural gap in the world apart from Western rationalities. The recent discussions on the distinction between Islam and Western world seem to bring a new paradigm. They demand more sociological and ethnological knowledge to list the impacts of the worldwide situations of women. The abstract claims for matriarchal power mostly do not exactly fit for the worldwide realities of women. There is a demand for more sophisticated and detailed approaches to the empowerment of women within different cultures. This may emerge again when ICPCC is confronted with Asian cultures and their particular approaches to feminist thoughts. The 300 pastoral counsellors meeting in Edinburgh 1979 gave this first Congress the title The Risks of Freedom. The subject was focussed on the individual’s freedom from strong and patriarchal structures in churches and societies. The methods to achieve this goal were regarded in the individual’s introspection, and great emphasis was put on group encounters. They provided the vicarious space to prepare the ‘long walk to other institutions’. Psychoanalysis and Clinical Pastoral Education should enable students to ‘change churches and societies’. The emerging training in these methods were combined with upgrades for professional work and by this, at least in the Western European churches, became attractive. A report about one pre-conference of this meeting in Eastern Germany/Eisenach opened an access to another big item of the implementation of Pastoral Care and Counselling in Europe and with that one part of the worldwide ICPCC developed: when meeting for the first time behind the Iron Curtain, the Germans in the German Democratic Republic seemed to be persons whom to approach with ‘fierce and awe’, as an American pastoral psychologist reported. This was leading to additional reflections of mentalities and cultural backgrounds, as well as to the social situations in the regions where pastoral psychology 161 Towards the International Congress on Pastoral Care and Counselling was implemented. During these days Germans behind the Iron Curtain were economically more vulnerable than the inhabitants of West Germany and more afflicted by the material damages of World War II. They did not enjoy as much individual liberty as those Germans ‘in the West’. Socialist societies did not provide wealth for the individual. People had a harsh everyday life. Americans and people from other Western nations sometimes neglected this fact. Their basic needs were already met when they approached items of psychology. Western psychology seemed to depend on an easier access to riches and liberty. And by that it sometimes missed the goal of being sensitive to cultural and social differences. Theories and practices of psychology aimed at individual happiness and smiling faces and an experience of well-being – and this was not always the most important goal in Eastern Germany; here people more clearly struggled for mental and physical survival. In the second part of his report on the meeting in Eisenach the American pastoral psychologist added that he discovered more than the lack of a smile in the German faces. He encountered an authentic ethical attitude and signs of a serious understanding of Christianity behind these ‘fierce’ faces of the Eastern German theologians. Maybe he even discovered the connection between the economic and political situation and the mentalities of these people. There was a big gap between the political status of churches in East and West in Germany as well, and the practical aspects of life were crucial when considering mental attitudes. Africa 1999 was the great moment when ICPCC became worldwide and encountered the outcomes of colonial and postcolonial orders. ICPCC members were guests of churches in a society which was struggling economically and – compared to the international status of ICPCC’s member countries – less powerful politically. This more and more lead to the reflections on North and South of the world and to the questions of globalisation and its impacts on everyday life – the motto of the Congress in Bangalore/India. 162 Appendix 2 Encountering Maori Culture in New Zealand 2011 led back to the subjects of spirituality and culture, indigenous healing and Western medicine – back to the great divisions of the world; rich and poor, powerful and marginalised. Again, and in a new way race and gender topics worldwide were raised – and last but not least, ICPCC found access to the dialogue of religions. In San Francisco this topic emerged, and presumably will be an important subject in Kuala Lumpur/Malaysia. In Asia the cooperation of religions seems to be crucial, especially in a secular country like Japan, where religions have to cooperate in order to bring forth their impacts and their contributions to society. The proportions of Christians in countries with major Islamic population are not so small, and if religions begin to cooperate, they hopefully may help to develop and maintain civil societies and democracy in their region. When reading preparatory texts for all these conferences I found a remark: The 8th ICPCC Congress in Kryszowa/Polandtook place with the title: A Treasure in Earthen Vessels. Intercultural Perspectives on Pastoral Care and Counselling facing Fragility and Destruction. The discussion emerged whether a biblical citation in the title may include the risk not to be understood. Secular recipients won’t grasp the meaning of the context. The citation results from Christian tradition and world view, which is not familiar to the whole society. Though perhaps the ICPCC members understood what was meant, this discussion shows the progress of secularisation in the Western countries. It may be a hint to be very sensitive and distinct in a region of the world where religions are in cooperation and sometimes in rivalry for reasons of acknowledgement and political influence. A risk of freedom may be converted into other risks if ICPCC does not develop a very sensitive view on the changing societies: There are risks for not being understood – whether we speak in religious terms or in psychological ones, whether gender accesses 163 Towards the International Congress on Pastoral Care and Counselling are discussed in different settings or whether racial aspects are used either to keep peace or to provoke hatred. It is not a big secret that the ICPCC finances are short: Regarding the situation of many members of ICPCC all over the world, the finances altogether diminish, while expenses for the Congresses grow as well as the expenses of funds for those who are not able to travel around the world or even to participate in conferences. ICPCC should maintain solidarity wherever it is possible. There is already a big gap between those member organizations who are able to contribute fees or send Congress attendants and those who are already kept back. When turning to the Asian – Pacific region the members of ICPCC will encounter profound cultural riches and diversity. They also will meet fragility and destruction in respect to nature and environment – whether there are man-made risks or results of big natural disasters. In this region of the world millions of people encounter threatening economical risks in everyday life. Malaysia again may be a good place to travel and enjoy culture – hopefully it will become a place to meet as well – people from diverse ‘worlds’ in their struggle for their lives and families, for their religious entities and for the improvement of their societies. Pastoral counsellors have a chance to expand their concerns for humanity worldwide. When turning to Asia in Kuala Lumpur/Malaysia in August 2019 ICPCC members will encounter Christians from various churches belonging to religious and ethnic minorities within their special countries. Maybe there will be Congress participants from different religions – as in San Francisco. Malaysia and Indonesia are mainly Islamic countries, India has its indigenous Hindu tradition, Japan is historically influenced by Shinto and Buddhism. Christians of various denominations came to this part of the world either by colonialisation or by some sorts of mission. Christian churches are – besides the Mar Thoma in India or few other groups – not a part of the ancient cultural traditions of this continent. If pastoral counsellors will be guests of this region of 164 Appendix 2 the world, the basic virtue of listening will be of outstanding importance. Listening and participation are two sides of the same medal. They both represent the willingness to understand what is really going on. And this is not only important for the goal of understanding. We will come to know the joyful cultural sights of the places and will meet the burdens of this region of the world – burdens like great economic shifts and the ongoing dangers and possible destruction of the environment for numerous reasons. A special emphasis will be laid again on the empowerment of women wherever they are victims of unjust laws and practice. ‘Confronted Societies’ as the Asian pastoral psychologist Padmasani J. Gallup claims,230 provide rare chances for a profound change. While traditional life and customs erode, violence seems to be an alternative for those who feel left behind in the fast worldwide economic development. Men and women are victims of this situation, but women bear the bigger burden. Religions have a double-bind function in this respect. On one hand, they symbolize aid and relief for suppressed persons. Religions provide guidelines for ‘morals’ and may protect those who need mental and physical shelter. On the other hand, the powerful aspects of religions are regarded to be a challenge for modern women’s emancipation. In modern societies in Asia, persons from many religious and ethnical descents have to survive and will have to cooperate in peace. They have to overcome the boundaries of colonialism. They have to preserve their environment in common achievements. They have to find their special ways to establish their authentic political systems. A training of religious leaders in Pastoral Care and Counselling may help to reach the goal: to develop and maintain democratic structures including men’s and women’s true needs, leading to tolerance and peace in the multi-cultural, multireligious and multi-ethnic societies of the South East Asian region. ICPCC members are looking forward to this meeting with pastoral counsellors in Asia and their special gifts and challenges. 230. Gallup (2013:125). 165 The following document has been used in this book with the necessary permissions from the authors and/or publishers: Louw, D., 2012, ‘Challenges to ICPCC pastoral and spiritual policy: from the private consultation of the counselling room to the open and public space of market place encounters’, in D. Louw, T.D. Ito & U. Elsdörfer (eds.), Encounter in Pastoral Care and Spiritual Healing, LIT Verlag, Berlin. Appendix 3 Challenges to ICPCC pastoral and spiritual policy: From the private consultation of the counselling room to the open and public space of marketplace encounters231 Daniel J. Louw Pastoral care entails more than merely formal and very expensive appointments with professional counsellors. Pastoral care often takes place where people meet one another within informal encounters with the question: 231. Preface to the volume: Louw, Ito and Elsdörfer (2012). 167 Challenges to ICPCC pastoral and spiritual policy How are you today? In a human encounter care becomes a public event within the cultural setting of daily life: pastoral care as life care (cura animarum as cura vitae). When pastoral care is exposed to the daily problems of life within poor communities, the public setting of less developed countries, contexts of violence and fraud, and the HIV & AIDS pandemic, the ‘Mother Theresa model’ for pastoral care and counselling is becoming more appropriate: be there where ‘they’ are (the being functions of daily encounters). One of the goals of the ICPPC in terms of the constitution is to link theory formation in Pastoral Care & Counselling to real life issues as framed by context and culture; a kind of grass-roots approach. This goal implies a paradigm shift in care and counselling from an individualistic approach to a more systemic and contextual approach. There should be a paradigm shift from an individualistic approach towards a more communal perspective that includes a ‘priority for relationality and community; a more interpersonal than intra-psychic developmental perspectives…. and a goal of mutuality and reciprocity with communities’ (A remark in one of the general discussions at the Rotorua conference in New Zealand, August 2011). Due to current processes of globalization, there is a tendency to emphasize the importance of local contexts and particularity within the realm of communities. This process is known as glocalisation. Without any doubt pastoral care and counselling should reckon with this development. Territory, land and environment surface time and again as vital topics in local discourses. During the Rotorua meeting of the ICPCC the notion of indigeneity surfaced. Indigeneity implies a close and longstanding relationship with territories, land and the natural world. For example: in Maori traditions indigeneity plays a fundamental role in a Maori understanding of healing and well-being: ecoconnectedness; the bonding to the land (grounded identity); and protocols for encountering (defined relationships). 168 Appendix 3 Healing is embedded in a continuum where interdependence, balance, and connectedness prevail. Healing is about the negotiating of relationships within a general meeting place. In Marae-encounters the mode of thinking is more centrifugal (outwards direction) than centripetal (inwards direction). Understanding therefore comes from larger contexts, e.g. wider relationships, and not merely from analysis of component parts. Similarities convey essence and meaning and not so much differences. What then is the implication for pastoral care and spiritual healing? Pastoral therapy should become holistic and focussed on interconnectedness within the realm of relationships. Enduring relationships need to go beyond momentary psychological and emotional experiences to embrace a sense of connection with time, space, and the spiritual domains that connect human lives with natural and cosmic environments. Healing is embedded in culture and should therefore probe into these paradigms, rituals and norms/values that dominate cultural thinking in a very specific local context. In India many of the so-called ‘Western Theologies’ are rendered as inappropriate for a cultural approach to well-being and healing: they are ‘too kerygmatic’, pietistic, cultural bounded, adult- and male oriented, clerical, non-revolutionary, other worldly, handmade of Western expansion, church-centred, individualistic and even disrespectful of nature. Within the gender discourse, the peril of patriarchal power dominates the debate. In this regard the social media projects masculinities that fuels images of strength, domination and powerful control. Male sexuality is strongly driven in the direction of genital centrality, but that, although the reigning creed on men’s bodies (still) seem tobe‘big, hard and up’, men need to evaluate this dominating discourse critically and learn to embody alternative ways of being men, i.e. valuing vulnerability as necessary equivalent to power. 169 Challenges to ICPCC pastoral and spiritual policy On the other hand, males become more and more confused regarding their gender role in a democratic society with the emphasis on equality. The deconstruction of male power in the gender debate is contributing to the so-called ‘crisis of males’. Stripped from their traditional role functions and bombarded by the mass media’s promotion of the concept of hegemonic masculinity (the athletic male body as a mark of power and moral superiority), males are becoming more and more confused, or in poor communities, even more violent. It has become a dominant, global idol that men should be strong and behave according to the RamboSchwarzenegger-image for physical well-being. In the meantime, they feel vulnerable, exposed and robbed. In the market driven economy men are forced to still produce, but in the meantime are exposed to the vacuum of: play in the present because the future produce nothingness (nausea). When one takes the issues of land, territory, grass-roots culture, human identity and human dignity, clarity on gender and the meaning of being male and female seriously, what then is the challenge to pastoral care and spiritual healing? The challenge in a pastoral approach to well-being is a ‘holistic approach’ with the emphasis on an integrative perspective wherein the human body is a vital part and ingredient of spirituality (embodied spirituality) and care is involved in the whole of human life; the networking of relationships should be healed. ‘Therapy’ is a spiritual practice – not just a fixing of human problems – rather facilitation of a movement towards what is characterised as ‘shalom’ in the Judaeo-Christian tradition; a shalom that is both internal and environmental. The emphasis in pastoral care and counselling is more and more on what is called ‘spiritual therapy’. The quest for meaning and significance with the question: ‘How does God fit into the picture of human suffering and the quest for human dignity and justice?’, is back on the table of pastoral care. 170 Appendix 3 Spirituality refers inter alia to the dimensions of existential questions; the finding of meaning and purpose in life; the value of social relationships; the interplay between emotions, values and identity; the relationship with God; the concept of God; the quality of the spiritual life of an individual; and the content of belief. Holistic care implies inter alia the healing of public paradigms that determine the value and dignity of people within daily encounters. In Spiritual Care the pastor should become a proper guest in the life and story of the other person; pastoral care implies a mutuality of hospitality. The role of the pastoral counsellor is to give hope during times when people become desperate and see no hope for their future. In their stories, even secularised people still use spiritual or religious language, as for example: ‘mercy’, ‘grace’, and ‘new beginning’. With the following shifts in mind: from an exclusive to an inclusive approach; from global to local, form individual to community, from person to system and relational network, pastoral care enters the public domain of the ‘market place’; care becomes life and public care. Pastoral care is a public dominium; it is interrelated to life as a web of political, environmental, economic, and financial issues. Within this web the notion of power is fundamental. Pastoral care is not aligned with the state but uses its spiritual orientation to confront unfair use of power. To care for the public is to advocate for the fullness of life. 171 The following document has been used in this book with the necessary permissions from the authors and/or publishers: MacMaster, L., 2009b, ‘Resilience of faith communities on the Cape Flats (SA): A pastoral theological perspective’, Scriptura 101(2009), 288–300. https://doi.org/10.7833/101-0-640 Appendix 4 Resilience of faith communities on the Cape Flats (South Africa) – Lessons in congregational ministry and care232 Llewellyn MacMaster Introduction233 Although Apartheid is usually regarded as closely linked to the political rule of the National Party (NP), it should be made clear that the ‘divide and rule’ approach was part of British colonial policy. ‘Notions of racial superiority formed part of the general pattern of colonial rule into the 232. MacMaster (2009b). 233. The text is published with the friendly permission of the author. In order to maintain the originality of this article, I do not cite the sources in my reference list. 173 Resilience of faith communities on the Cape Flats (South Africa) twentieth century’.234 The establishment of the Union of South Africa in 1910 ‘consolidated the interests of the white population over the black community’.235 When the NP took over the reins in 1948, the system of segregation was showing signs of collapse,236 mainly because industrial development accelerated the movement of Africans. The Nationalists set about entrenching segregation by rooting it in the ideology of apartheid and dividing the country into racial zones. The National Party did not wish to halt industrialisation and economic growth but rather ‘to control its social implications by imposing strict segregation based on racial hierarchy’.237 Apartheid under the NP, or Verwoerdian Apartheid as it is also called, was a massive programme of social engineering aimed at keeping black South Africans disorganised and economically dependent. Wilfred Schärf,238 a well-known criminologist, summarises the position of black people during Apartheid as follows: Economic dependency was ensured by preventing the accumulation of capital by blacks. Influx control was designed to confine the surplus African population to the economically impoverished homelands. Housing policies denied Africans freehold rights and other relatively stable forms of land tenure and thus robbed them 234. Deegan (2001:5). A number of laws were promulgated to ensure that the policy of racial segregation be maintained and the economic interests of the white minority protected. These included The Mines and Works Act (1911), which essentially meant that skilled positions were designated for whites, while black people undertook unskilled work; the Natives Land Act (1913), which prevented Africans from buying land in areas designated as white; the Natives (Urban Areas) Act of 1923, which enabled local authorities to enforce residential segregation between black people and white people and forbade the granting of freehold property rights to Africans; and the Riotous Assemblies Act of 1927, which allowed for the strict control of any disturbances; the 1927 Immorality Act, which forbade extramarital sexual relations between black people and white people. (Deegan 2001:3–14) 235. Deegan (2001:5). 236. Deegan (2001:23). 237. James Barber cited in Deegan (2001:23). 238. Schärf (1990:233). 174 Appendix 4 of the opportunity of using their homes as collateral for loans. Licensing provisions in the townships were extremely restrictive, thus limiting opportunities for the growth of a black middle class. All forms of street trading without licences, otherwise known as the informal sector, were made illegal. Even the commodification of domestic services such as beer was criminalized […] In addition, the education system for blacks was designed to perpetuate the status quo by keeping blacks under-skilled. Until the late seventies, job reservation protected whites from competition in the job market. There were thus pitifully few legal avenues to financial success open to Africans. The South African sociologist Bernard Magubane, referring to ‘the perverted logic of Apartheid’,239 gives this harsh description from a Marxist viewpoint: Apartheid, as a policy of naked exploitation allied with dishonesty, is permeated by hysterical irrationality. Such a statement reminds us that the policy of apartheid is a flight from reality into fabulously convoluted rationalizations to justify any action against the African proletariat.240 Apartheid, Magubane argues, is based on and grounded in Afrikaner nationalism, which he describes as ‘national consciousness of a perverse kind’. It is a distorted love of one’s own people based on hatred, fear, and contempt for others. It misdirects the service to one’s own people into the subjugation and exploitation of all other peoples. It is a nationalism that is opposed to a free and independent growth of other nationalities. It spiritualises the national sentiment into crass economic gains.241 Whichever way one chooses to look at the history of colonisation, Dutch, English and Afrikaner rule, all of it had the net effect that the indigenous peoples of this country were robbed of the wealth, of the land, as well as of their human dignity. The white settlers made pretty sure that they, and not the African 239. Magubane ([1979] 1990:149). 240. Magubane ([1979] 1990:159). 241. Magubane ([1979] 1990:159). 175 Resilience of faith communities on the Cape Flats (South Africa) minority, would remain in control of the economy, as Allan Boesak puts it: The common thread, as in the beginning of the colonial project, was the need for white solidarity to secure white supremacy […]. It is important to remember that white, racial solidarity guaranteed white political hegemony, which in turn guaranteed white economic superiority. That early creation of a platform of wealth remains one of the most potent factors preventing genuine black economic empowerment even today.242 The Group Areas Act (1950): Forced removals and uprooting communities The Groups Areas Act of 1950 was one of the Nationalist government’s first pieces of legislation. It extended the principle of separate racial residential areas on a comprehensive and compulsory basis. The Population Registration Act (1950) classified the people of South Africa into four main categories: ‘white’, ‘coloured’ ‘Asiatic’ (Indian) and ‘Native’ (later termed ‘Bantu’ or African). Land held by Indians and coloureds in city centres was expropriated by the government, and residents were resettled in housing estates on the peripheries of cities,243 ‘far removed from jobs and organised in racially segregated townships separated form each other by unoccupied buffer zones.’244 In this regard, District Six, in Cape Town, has become a symbol of the pain and anger of people who were forcibly removed to what is now commonly known as the Cape Flats. Despite a lack of proper housing and the general occurrence of poverty among the approximately 40 000 residents, a very strong feeling of community and cohesion existed among the people of District Six. Father John, Rector of St Mark’s Church, District Six, in 2004 242. Boesak (2005). 243. Deegan (2001:23). 244. Rospabe and Selod (2006:262). 176 Appendix 4 described District Six and the type of community life there as follows: District Six is a national icon of our history. It is a visible reminder of forced removals that took place under the Group Areas Act. We want to remember and celebrate what the community was about before it was forcibly removed. It was a community that displayed admirable values long before the Group Areas Act was enforced. It was a community of support and racial tolerance. It was an interreligious community who had respect for each other and attended each other’s funerals, whether they were Muslims, Christians or Jews. It was a way of co-existence that is exactly what we are trying to encourage amongst all the people of South Africa as we celebrate 10 years of democracy.245 The existence of extended families played a very huge role in creating a sense of security, general respect for one another and caring for others. During that time, people accepted responsibility for the care and discipline of the neighbourhood’s children: Your child is my child, and my child is your child. The Groups Areas Act changed the lives of Coloured, Black and Indian people of Cape Town in more ways than one, and in a very profound manner. We should remember that it was not only the people of District Six who were affected, but also people from other areas, and, indeed, right across South Africa.246 Prof Erika Theron247 has referred to the bitterness, distrust and enmity that this legislation, more than any other, has provoked among Coloured people. Old ordered communities were disrupted, families were forcefully removed from communities where they knew their neighbours and where social life was in many instances organised around the church, to new neighbourhoods where people were strangers to one another – to soulless townships across the Cape Flats. 245. City and St Mark’s Church and District Six Museum celebrate Heritage Day. Media Release No 164/2004, 23 September 2004. www.capetown.gov.za 246. See, for example: Pinnock (1980), Marco (1992), Smith (1994). 247. Theron (1977:38) 177 Resilience of faith communities on the Cape Flats (South Africa) Arnold Smith248 sums up the situation as follows: The removal of thousands of people to the open Cape Flats did not envisage any proper community. People were merely dumped and forced to develop some sort of community for themselves. In addition, Bishop Lavis was literally ‘culturally poor’ during the first ten years of its existence. There was no effective schooling, minimum church life and very little sport and recreational facilities. In brief, the people of the town did not ‘live’, they only ‘existed’. By the time thought was given to such facilities, social ills like poverty, unemployment, alcohol abuse, etc. had already taken root, hindering the positive influence of the home, the school and the church as community institutions. (my translation, LLMM) One reason for an increase in crime was said to be the lack of facilities (with shebeens249 as the only gathering places) and a feeling of displacement or uprootment. Many long and close friendships were broken up and extended family systems destroyed. This displacement also affected established street gangs. These were splintered into smaller gangs in the new townships. The new leadership did not necessarily adhere to the established rules and ‘norms’ maintained by the District Six leaders, resulting in different modi operandi in different areas resulting in more criminality as well as more turf wars as rival gangs tried to assert and eastablish themselves. The economic consequences of the forced removals were farreaching. Because of higher rent and other expenses, both parents were forced to work in order to cope financially. The new townships were further from places of employment,250 which meant that people left their homes much earlier in the morning and returned later from work. This resulted in many young 248. Smith (1994:74). 249. So-called ‘illegal’ liquor outlets. 250. This ‘physical disconnection’ between places of work and places of residence is referred to as ‘spatial mismatch’. Rospabe and Selod (2006:263) point out how some workers – notably unskilled workers – are further affected by the poor quality of public transport systems. See also: Shaw and Louw (1998). 178 Appendix 4 children being left more on their own without adult supervision and few, if any, proper recreational facilities. Resulting from these factors, gangs increasingly substituted the extended families in terms of a supporting function.251 What was the effect on Faith Communities on the Cape Flats? Faith communities are part and parcel of the broader society; they are not islands unaffected by broader societal changes. As such, they experience everything that communities at large are experiencing. Coloured and Black people have always been people of faith. This point is argued very strongly by Allan Boesak,252 who takes issue with academics and politicians who do not ‘recognize the power of the liberating gospel as reclaimed by the oppressed.’ Ignoring the importance and integral role of spirituality in the lives, the political activity and struggles of the oppressed people of South Africa, according to Boesak, is ‘the height of both academic and political dishonesty’, a ‘grave insult’.253 Thus, when people were uprooted and forcibly removed from their communities, their religious practices were severely disrupted as they were robbed, amongst other things, of places of worship and fellowship. Policies, not people, mattered more to the Nationalist government. In the case of the establishment of the township of Bishop Lavis, it is rather ironic that the Citizens Housing League, who planned and developed the new town, required a letter from a church minister as part of the application for a house, but at the same time apparently did not care much about people’s religious needs in the new township. People in the new townships had to find their own ways and 251. Rospabe and Selod (2006:264), refer to the ‘epidemic theory of ghettos’ in which ‘the propensity of youngsters to adopt socially deviant behaviour’ (for instance, dropping out of school or yielding to criminality) depends on the proportion of same-behaviour individuals in the neighbourhood. 252. Boesak (2005). 253. Boesak (2005:103–131). 179 Resilience of faith communities on the Cape Flats (South Africa) means of establishing a sense of community; this was not easy and it would, in fact, take at least a decade for people just to settle down, if they ever did (See comment by Joshua Louw, below). Derrick Marco, writing the following with reference to Elsies River, reflects the experience of people across the Cape Flats: As a result of prevailing conditions and the effects it has on the lives of people, it is difficult to detect an authentic community spirit i.e. a feeling of belonging, of appreciation and of respect. Attitudes have hardened and defensiveness, withdrawal, and individualism regulate social relations. This, while it cannot be condoned, is understandable in a community where the rule of the jungle applies i.e. the fittest survive. Trusting, caring relationships seldom exist. Love is a foreign phenomenon.254 Residents in these new townships were strangers to one another and most probably did not have much faith in the place or in their new neighbours. Their restlessness and mistrust somehow also influenced the children of the townships. According to Arnold Smith, financial considerations overshadowed human considerations like minimum needs for comfort, inspiration and happiness in the minds of the planners of new townships. No provision was made for the education of children, for decent public spaces for recreation and relaxation, and for the practising of their faith.255 People in the newly established Bishop Lavis township had to walk some distance to nearby Elsies River to attend church services; they had to negotiate buses and were therefore at risk of being attacked by criminal elements, or otherwise gather in houses to worship. The authorities also did not cater for the diverse religious affiliations of the people. Thirty-six different church denominations applied for building sites, but the authorities only awarded land to five: the Anglican Church, the Dutch Reformed Mission Church, the Methodist Church, the Roman Catholic and the African Methodist Episcopal Church. 254. Marco (1992:16). 255. Smith (1994:38). 180 Appendix 4 Despite the harsh circumstances under which people they found themselves, faith communities did play a very important and significant role in helping people to cope, to make sense in their lives, to find solace in the fact that ‘God is not sleeping’. I have found this expression to be the general way in which people of faith express their trust and hope when they find themselves in situations of wrongdoing or adversity. This God who is not sleeping, is a God of justice and righteousness who would ensure that the ‘wheel of justice’ will turn (against the wrong-doers and in favour of the afflicted). It expresses a faith in a God who hears and sees. It is faith in the God who saw Hagar’s flight from the abuse of Sarai (Gn 16:13)256; the God who heard the cries of Ishmael in the desert (Gn 21:17–18)257; the God who had ‘indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt’, and had ‘heard them crying out because of their slave drivers’ and who was ‘concerned about their suffering’ (Ex 3:7, NIV). In the next section we will briefly evaluate the current situation on the Cape Flats, after Apartheid and the dawn of the new South Africa. We will show that the situation has not changed significantly enough for the people of the Cape Flats to experience the better life promised by the present ANCgovernment. This in turn reflect back on the role of faith communities to present beacons of hope to the people, exercising the showing the same resilience and tenacity as during the years of Apartheid. The Current Situation on the Cape Flats: For Better or for Worse? Joshua Louw, Anglican priest in the township of Manenberg, has expressed the opinion that it seems as if many of the residents 256. ‘She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: ‘You are the God who sees me’, for she said, ‘I have now seen the One who sees me.’(The Bible, New International Version [NIV]). 257. ‘God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, ‘what is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.’(NIV). 181 Resilience of faith communities on the Cape Flats (South Africa) ‘have not arrived yet’, especially the older people. ‘It is as if they are still somehow protesting against the forced removals, as if they are just not able to settle down.’258 One may ask whether that feeling somehow filters through to the younger generations, affecting them sub-consciously in a psychological way, resulting in a feeling of restlessness. It is clear that, despite tremendous progress and giant steps already taken forward and away from our dreadful past,259 the net effects of apartheid could never by eradicated easily and definitely not in the near future. Bhorat and Kanbur, for example, point out that, although South Africa’s formal baptism of democracy in April 1994 received international acclaim and recognition, the: [G]reater struggle since the early post-apartheid days has been the attempt to undo the economic vestiges of the system of racial exclusivity… the first ten years have seen rising unemployment, rising income poverty, and rising income inequality, all in the context of a lacklustre performance in economic growth.260 258.Interview, 14 November 2006 259. Allister Sparks is of the opinion that ‘one can credit the new South Africa with many excellent achievements.’ He continues: We have entrenched a new democratic constitution, perhaps the most progressive in the world, and bedded it down through four national, provincial and local elections which have been manifestly peaceful and fair […] Not least we have managed a smooth transition from the Founding Father of our new nation to his young successor in a continent where this is rare. We have scrapped all the old race laws, guaranteed freedom of speech and the press, abolished the death penalty, legalized abortion on demand, protected the rights of gay people, and advanced women in many spheres of life. We have brought clean water to more than 9 million people who did not have it before, electricity to more than 2 million, and telephones – that vital connection to the new Information Age – to 1.5 million. We have integrated, at least nominally, more than 30 000 public schools that used to be racially segregated, as well as the country’s universities and other institutions of higher learning, raised the literacy rate of 15- to 24-year-olds to 95%, and brought free heath care to millions of children. We have resuscitated an economy that was on its deathbed, restoring fiscal discipline, cutting the budget deficit, reducing the national debt, bringing inflation down from double figures to within a target range of 3% to 6%, slashing interest rates from a high 24% under apartheid to 14% prime, lifting trade barriers, removing a maze of tariffs and import duties, and winning universal praise for establishing a sound macroeconomic base from which hopefully to build future prosperity. It is indeed another country. (Sparks 2003:3–4). 260. Haroon Bhorat and Ravi Kanbur, ‘Poverty and well-being in post-apartheid South Africa’, in Bhorat and Kanbur, op. cit., 1. 182 Appendix 4 The Western Cape has shown very positive signs of economic growth in comparison with national figures. It is estimated, for example, that this province, together with the Northern Cape and Free State, has experienced significant declines in poverty. In 2000, the Western Cape had the lowest poverty head count rate in South Africa, while its neighbour, the Eastern Cape, already the poorest province in South Africa in 1995, has experienced an increase of the extreme poverty rate from 49% to 56%.261 According to Statistics South Africa, the Western Cape has the lowest unemployment rate in the country, namely 15% (18.9% in 2005), compared to the national average of 25.5%.262 However, researchers point out that the so-called growth incidence curves are ‘upwardsloping’, meaning that the non-poor benefited more from growth than the poor and that ‘inequality among coloureds has risen’.263 For the people of the Cape Flats life remains a struggle. The non-governmental organisation, the Proudly Manenberg Campaign (PMC), has revealed the following statistics regarding the Manenberg township on the Cape Flats: Manenberg has [an] estimated population of about 70,000 people of which approximately 37% are younger than 17 years old. About 40% to 50% of the people are unemployed with around 44% of the households living on an annual income of less than R25,000. More than half (57%) of the residents live in rented state-owned houses or flats. Not one of the 11 primary and 2 high schools have proper assembly halls or sport fields. Only 30 out of 200 Grade 8 learners reach Grade 12, and less than 1% of the population has a university qualification.264 261. Hoogeveen and Özler (2006:59–94). This point is of importance given the debate about the socio-economic effects of thousands of people moving to the Western Cape annually. Political opponents of the African National Congress (ANC) see it as a deliberate ‘scheme’ by the ANC to bolster its support in a province that has never be completely under ANC governance. 262. ‘Service economy boosts job creation in province’, Cape Times, 13 July 2007. 263. Hoogevegen and Özler (2006:71). 264. Naweek Kaapse Son, 13 July 2007 ‘Trots op Manenberg’. The PMC was established in 2000 by a group of activists from the 1980s who have decided to plough back into the community where they have grown up. They initially concentrated on academic bursaries for students from Manenberg, but have decided to expand their activities after the killing of 183 Resilience of faith communities on the Cape Flats (South Africa) Many decades of oppression and deprivation have left deep scars and bleeding wounds on the people and communities of the Cape Flats. These wounds manifest themselves in the numerous social ills, for example: • Crime. Although the Western Cape is one of the most developed provinces of the country, it is regarded as the most crimeridden.265 It has the nation’s highest rate of murders: 85 murders per 100 000 citizens in 2002/3, against the national average of 47.266 There has been a significant decline in the number of murders, but the very latest crime statistics (2006/7) show that the Western Cape is still the so-called ‘murder capital’ of South Africa with 60.7 murders per 100 000 citizens against the national average of 40.7. Nyanga, on the Cape Flats, has recorded the highest number of murders for 2006/7 (303, up from last year’s 284) with other Western Cape areas namely Khayelitsha, Harare and Gugulethu taking the fifth, sixth and seventh spots.267 The homicide rate for Coloureds has almost always been higher than other race groups, exceeding 60 murders per 100 000 since 1980.268 Coloured people are also over-represented in the nation’s prisons – they represent 9% of the national population but make up 18% of the national prison population.269 • Organised gangsterism is concentrated more on the Cape Flats than any other part of South Africa.270 (footnote 264 continues...) a learner outside the Manenberg High School in July 2005. Their organisational plans now focus on 11 sectors – businesses, safety, education, environment, faith, women, housing, arts and culture, sport, health and the youth. 265. Legget (2004b). 266. According to United Nations Crime and Justice Information Network (www.uncjin.org), Russia’s murder rate was 21 per 100,000, Brazil was 19, the USA had a rate of 5,6, and most of Europe was under 4 homicides per 100 000 people – as quoted in Thomson (2004). 267. ‘The Western Cape is still SA’s murder capital’, The Cape Times, 04 July 2007. 268. Thomson (2004). 269. Legget (2004a). 270. MacMaster (2001b). I am also currently working on a doctoral thesis under the topic ‘In search of a family: The challenge of gangsterism to faith communities.’ 184 Appendix 4 • Drug abuse. The latest crime statistics released by the South African Police Services (SAPS) show that Mitchell’s Plain on the Cape Flats has the highest number of drug-related crimes in the country. That 39% of the country’s drug-related crimes in 2006/7 were committed in the Western Cape, shows a shocking increase of 205.8% to a rate of 865 crimes for every 100 000 people. Drug abuse, and especially crystal methamphetamine, has reach pandemic proportions on the Cape Flats, with coloured residential areas the hardest hit.271 • Abuse of women and children. The past couple of years have seen an alarming increase in the occurrence of abuse of women and children. Cape Town is statistically the most dangerous city for children to live in, according to a recent 271. A few years ago Ted Legget warned that the use of crystal methamphetamine, commonly known as ‘tik’ in the Western Cape, ‘a drug with a high addiction potential that can elicit bizarre and aggressive behaviour’ may be growing on the Cape Flats. ‘If so’, he wrote, ’this is an issue for law enforcement to watch, because speed and violent criminals are not a good combination.’ (Legget 2003). The latest crime statistics released by the SAPS reflect this alarming increase, measured in this instance by the reported drug-related crimes at a few police stations on the Cape Flats, in particular in areas inhabited by people of mixed race: Mitchell’s Plain, where 829 cases were reported in 2003/4, has the highest number in the country for 2006/7 – 3683 case. Other examples of this steep increase are: Bishop Lavis, from 499 in 2003/2004 to 1333 in 2006/7: Macassar, from 93 to 285; Ravensmead, from 191 to 656; and Elsies River, from 348 to 1193 cases. Tik, also known commonly as meth, tuk, speed or crystal, is a hugely addictive methamphetamine drug, right up there with heroin, although not quite as addictive. The white, odourless, bitter crystalline powder, which dissolves easily in water or alcohol, is a powerful stimulant that affects the central nervous system. In South Africa, users typically smoke the fumes after the powder or crystal, placed in a light bulb, is heated with a lighter. From the second half of 2004, the number of addicts seeking treatment for tik use (as their main substance of abuse) spiralled from just 2.3% of total users in treatment in Cape Town at the end of 2003 to nearly 20% at the end of 2004. According to the Medical Research Council’s Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Group, almost 60% of the patients seeking treatment for tik as their main drug of abuse in the second half of 2004 were younger than 20. The ages ranged from 13 to 46. Of the patients seeking treatment in Cape Town for tik as their main drug of abuse, 88% were of mixed race and 72% were male, the majority coming from Mitchell’s Plain. Other problem areas for tik use include Retreat, Athlone, Bonteheuwel and Hanover Park. Pointing to the power of tik, and its particular popularity with adolescents, Grant Jardine, director of the Cape Town Drug Counselling Centre, has been quoted in the Cape Argus as saying the drug ‘gives adolescents what they want – confidence and a sense of power’. [‘Tik addiction soars at an alarming rate’, The Argus, 07 April 2005. ‘Tik is taking over, say shocking drug stats’, The Argus, 07 November 2006]; Fact Sheet – Methamphetamine, Medical Research Council, November 2005. 185 Resilience of faith communities on the Cape Flats (South Africa) study by Professor Sebastian van As, head of the Red Cross Children’s Hospital Trauma Unit. The results of this study revealed 200 violent deaths of children for every 100 000 city residents.272 Although the statistics show a very bleak picture of life within the communities on the Cape Flats, and definite reasons for concern, there is also enough evidence to suggest that a very large percentage of the people on the Cape Flats still have a deep enough sense of self-belief and faith in God to refuse to accept the fatality of the situation. The work of organisations like the Proudly Manenberg Campaign and recent community mobilisation against drug abuse and gangsterism in areas like Mitchell’s Plain and Hanover Park are examples of communities’ refusal to accept these phenomena as normative. These campaigns are normally driven by people who have strong faith and/or political convictions; people who have a sound and holistic understanding of the bigger picture as influenced by psychosocial factors in which individual as well as systemic issues have to be addressed in the search for solutions. This has contributed in no small measure to the resilience that has helped people on the Cape Flats to survive against many odds. The last section will evaluate the role of faith communities throughout these years of dispossession and displacement, reinvention and re-establishment, and remarkable resilience. Vital Elements of Congregational Ministry and Care on the Cape Flats: Survival, Re-invention and Resilience Pastoral care in the black church has a history. Many persons may have the impression that pastoral care does not exist in the black church because very little has been written about it… But, to the contrary, any ministry of the church that has as its end the tender, solicitous care of persons in crisis is pastoral care. Pastoral care exists when the hungry are fed, when the naked are clothed, when the sick are healed, when the prisoners are visited. 272.‘Which city is the most dangerous for kids’, The Cape Argus, 18 July 2007. 186 Appendix 4 Therefore, it can be concluded that pastoral care has always existed in the black church because the needs of persons are ministered to by others all the time (Edward P. Wimberly).273 I am of the opinion that Wimberly’s assessment and understanding of pastoral care within the African American context is of great value for our situation on the Cape Flats. The aim of this paper is indeed to show that pastoral care, and in particular congregational care, has existed among faith communities on the Cape Flats right from the beginning. Another point of intersection with Wimberly’s view is the biblical foundation revealed through his reference to Jesus’ words in Matthew 25:31–46. Wimberly subscribes to a broader understanding of pastoral care ‘as the bringing to bear upon persons and families in crisis the total caring resources of the church.’ It is about ‘the total caring resources of the church’, not only about the pastor’s role in carrying out the four traditional/ classical functions of pastoral care as described by Clebsch and Jaekle,274 namely healing, sustaining, guiding, and reconciling.275 This is important for our situation because many congregations or parishes have been without a full-time pastor for longer or shorter periods, but have been able to sustain the life and ministries of that particular faith community. We have already said that faith communities, as part of the broader society, experienced the same trauma resulting from the Group Areas Act, in particular, and the Apartheid policies as a whole. Faith communities also suffered financial losses when their properties were disowned and found it extremely difficult to rebuild in the new townships. 273. Wimberly (1979:17–19). I am finding the work of Edward Wimberly and other African American writers very useful and relevant to my own theological thinking and formation. To my mind, there are some very close similarities between the situations of African Americans in the United States of America and African (people of mixed race and black) people in South Africa. 274. Clebsch and Jaekle (1964). 275. Wimberly (1964:18–19). 187 Resilience of faith communities on the Cape Flats (South Africa) The first few years of this congregation’s existence (the Dutch Reformed Mission Church Goodwood in Elsies River) was marked by tremendous upheavals and psychological traumas experienced both on a personal, family an congregational level. Families who owned property and were not willing to move voluntarily were forced to move. Most families moved to Elsies River where they had to start from scratch. Many were left penniless and, raped of their pride, had to find homes in the bushes of Elsies River, by then declared a slum area.276 Despite the pain and trauma, faith communities had to provide spaces of affinity amid the confusion of the forced removals. These would later on become spaces of struggle and expression of alternate thinking as communities faced hardship through different periods of the Nationalist regime’s experimentation with policies. These policies were always meant to entrench white minority political and economic power and privilege, with little regard for the negative effects on Coloured, Black and Indian families and communities. When the human dignity of other groups of people is denied through racism, it becomes so much easier to objectify those people – they become objects in your political manoeuvres. What we are suggesting here is obviously not the complete picture, but our perspective on the resilience of faith communities on the Cape Flats and the important elements of congregational ministry and care that they provided to communities who suffered under the policies of Apartheid. (1) Faith communities provided safe spaces, places of community, kononia and affinity amid the confusion of the forced removals and general effects of the Apartheid policies. The church kept people rooted, connected, and brought people from different places together to find sanity in their state of displacement. The church choir, the youth movement, the brigade, the Sunday school were all pillars that reflected the resilience of the 276. Marco (1992:49). Marco ministered in the Goodwood congregation of the Dutch Reformed Mission Church, now known as the Uniting Reformed Church, in Elsies River, between 1987 and 1994. This congregation decided to keep the name ‘Goodwood’ as a reminder and symbol of the fact that they were forcibly removed from their original homes and area of residence. 188 Appendix 4 faith community expanding and linking its spiritual experiences to their everyday struggles to make sense of their lives. And indeed the conversation of displacement remained alive, not in a disgruntled sense, but in a sense of reshaping and rebuilding and taking pride in who they are and where they came from.277 In this regard one has to take note of many new faith communities that have grown on the Cape Flats. Apart from the so-called more traditional or mainline churches, numerous other denominations or ministries (‘bedieninge’) were established. Whatever one’s opinion or criticism of these groups, they have been able to provide places of fellowship and worship for many people – and are still doing it today. The type of theology of many of these groups is sometimes frowned upon as ‘escapism’ and ‘emotionalism’, but the reality is that they attract hundreds of people, and are in fact growing at a time when most of the socalled mainline denominations are experiencing decline in numbers. Reggie Nel, a minister in the Uniting Reformed Church, is of the opinion that these groups ‘became the glue that held the townships together as a sort of cultural social movement.’ (2) The social and human capital that exists within faith communities is acknowledged by social scientists, as well as governments.278 Church buildings, for example, have been significant for developing social capital, as places where people can cross boundaries, meet others, share activities and build trust. In townships that lack basic communal places for recreation and meeting, church buildings often provide the only place where the community can gather. They provide the space for celebrations (e.g. birthday parties and wedding receptions) and are also the places where people come together for their schools’ parent meetings, political protest meetings and service groups (e.g. women and senior citizens). Beverly Gail Haddad sees church 277. D. Marco pers. comm., 12 June 2007. 278. Swart (2006:346–378). 189 Resilience of faith communities on the Cape Flats (South Africa) buildings as ‘a strategic asset’.279 This physical capital was therefore significant in developing and sustaining social capital in neighbourhoods where community buildings were and still are scarce. in halls/homes; education bursaries; care for homeless; advice office work.280 The work of congregational groups as well as denominational organisations needs acknowledgement. The Diakonale Dienste (Diaconal Services) of the Uniting Reformed Church and the Board of Social responsibility of the Anglican Church are examples of faith-based organisations that have over many years rendered critical services to the poor people on the Cape Flats. Other organisations that have made significant contributions include the Child Welfare Society, the Black Sash, the Red Cross, the Peninsula Feeding Scheme, St John’s Ambulance and the Haven Night Shelter (Haddad).281 People in faith communities on the Cape Flats have a strong sense of caring for one another – kononia and diakonia are not just academic terms, but are concretely expressed within the faith community as well as towards members of the broader society. Even in the poorest of communities, you would find support in the form of food parcels and financial contributions, even if as one-off contributions. Support in times of sickness and death is almost ‘natural’ and comes in the form of emotional support through visits and taking over household tasks that the afflicted cannot attend to, as well as prayer meetings for spiritual support. The particular contribution of women in this regard cannot be overemphasised. In most congregations across the spectrum of the Christian religion, women form the majority. Although this is not always reflected in the composition of the leadership in faith communities, women are indeed the backbone of these communities.282 Their commitment to their respective communities, 279. Haddad (1992:79). 280. Haddad (1992:50). 281. Haddad (1992:82). 282. See, for example, Haddad (1992:88). 190 Appendix 4 their diligence in building and maintaining organisations and support structures cannot be denied. While only a few churches, for example, would have a men’s organisation, most of them, right across the denominational spectrum, would have a women’s organisation or society. These women are also leading prayer groups that amongst other things support members in need and in times of distress, sharing the little they had with one another. Women’s significant role in the broader communities on the Cape Flats is described by Elaine Salo in her study of the meanings of personhood and agency in Manenberg, on the Cape Flats.283 (3) The simple piety of so-called ordinary members or lay persons. I have already referred to the spirituality and faith of the people in their God – a God who does not sleep, who sees their hardship and hears their cries. Michael Weeder, an Anglican priest who grew up in Elsies River, remembers how: The fault lines of our communion were nurtured by the simple piety of the lay persons, mainly male but not exclusively so, who led us in the Wednesday evening bid-uur (prayer meeting). It was […] the intimacy evolving from small group meetings clustered around the Word that allowed for a deepening and growth of community. Support emerged as information was shared around a biscuit and a cup of tea […] We were members of St Andrews Anglican Church, part of the broader historical colonial church. That it was and we were often burdened by the ministry of a ceaseless flow of priests from England. We were hereby exposed to Du Bois’ ‘double consciousness’ in that our faith formation took place in the belly of that colonial institution while we lived a reality far removed from that distant ‘green and pleasant land.284 The Holy Scriptures played a tremendous empowering role in the lives of the people throughout the years of oppression. One can 283. Salo (2004). For a shorter version of her work see ‘Mans is Ma Soe: Ganging Practices in Manenberg, South Africa and the ideologies of masculinity, gender and generational relations’, Paper delivered at the Criminal Justice: A New Decade, Consolidating Transformation Conference, 07–08 February 2005. Available online.http://www.wits.ac.za/csvr/confpaps/ salo.htm, [Accessed, 24 March 2006]. 284. M. Weeder pers. comm., 02 June 2007 191 Resilience of faith communities on the Cape Flats (South Africa) still clearly hear this during meetings when people pray the words of psalms such as Psalm 23 (‘The Lord is my shepherd’) or 121 (‘I lift my eyes to the hills – where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.’), or 27 (‘The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid?’). This is what African Americans call ‘soul theology’: The core belief-system that gives shape to the world, that shows how African American people have come to grips with the world in a meaningful way. These core beliefs are embodied in narratives and stories that permeate the church life of African Americans […] These narratives suggest ways to motivate people to action, help them recognize new resources, enable them to channel behavior in constructive ways, sustain them in crises, bring healing and reconciliation in relationships, heal the scars of memories, and provide guidance when direction is needed.285 (4) The particular role of ecumenical bodies and the spirit of ecumenism. Although ecumenical relations between churches have not always and at all times been very positive, it was the collective voice and protest of churches and leaders of faith communities during times of deep crisis that have helped displaced and dispossessed communities to garner enough strength to face life under Apartheid’s oppressive policies. The Western Province Council of Churches kept the church alive and kept faith communities rooted and their contribution cannot be under-estimated. The Inter Church Youth was a ‘formidable movement that was set up in 1982–1983 as one of the flagships of the United Democratic Front. The roots of this movement cut across denominational lines and brought the rhythmic singing of youth in line with critical theological underpinnings to promote progressive change’.286 Ecumenical bodies played a vital role in public pastoral care287 by leading community protests, supporting people when their dwellings 285. Wimberly (1991:11). 286. D. Marco pers. comm., 12 June 2007. 287. MacMaster (2007b). 192 Appendix 4 in informal settlements were destroyed by the government, paying fines and bail money for people arrested during protests, etc. These ecumenical organisations also helped people to think and reflect theologically with others outside the, at times more narrow, own denominational confessional framework. Conclusion The trauma and pain that resulted from the effects of the oppressive apartheid policies on the lives of thousands of people on the Cape Flats could never really be measured or adequately expressed in words. In so many cases, the scars and open wounds remain evident and manifest in some of the social ills that communities on the Cape Flats are still facing and struggling to overcome. The important role of faith communities to help people cope with the trauma of displacement, to create spaces of safety and affinity in new townships where they were virtual strangers to one another, needs to be recognised. Besides caring for members as well as non-members, faith communities also had the extremely difficult task of re-aligning and re-inventing themselves in the light of the new challenges brought about by the forced removals, while working with very limited resources. 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Woodward, M., 2011, Java, Indonesia and Islam, Springer, Heidelberg. 201 Index A accept, 40–41, 55, 72, 85, 90, 124, 134 acceptance, 21, 30–31, 33, 43, 75, 87, 101, 126, 138 Adat, 10, 28–30, 37, 41, 46–47, 51, 53–54, 56–59, 64, 70–71, 81, 85, 139–140 Africa, xvii-2, 7–11, 15, 25, 45, 48, 61, 97, 105–106, 108–110, 112–118, 121–122, 128, 135, 137, 145–147 African, xviii, 9–11, 97, 108–109, 113–119, 121–122, 124, 126, 128, 130–132, 134, 136–137, 146 AIDS, 110, 113, 147 anxiety, 82, 136 Asia, xvii-6, 9–11, 15–20, 22, 24–25, 29, 31, 41, 45, 48, 61–64, 66, 68, 70, 72, 74–76, 78, 80, 82–84, 86–88, 90, 92, 94, 96–97, 105, 121–128, 135, 137, 145–146 attitude, 39, 51, 55, 84, 131–132, 134 awareness, 5, 7, 9, 23, 62, 68, 77–80, 115, 126, 136, 142, 147 B Batak, 45–46, 70 behaviour, 72, 91 Bible, 48, 54, 65, 73, 115 Buddhism, 16, 29–31, 39–40, 61–62, 97 C care, xvii, 2–5, 7–9, 11, 15–18, 20–25, 34, 51, 62, 65, 67, 69–71, 73–74, 81–84, 97–102, 105–114, 116–118, 121, 130–132, 134–136, 142, 145–147 care at the In-Between, 135 challenges, 8, 10–11, 19–20, 42, 62, 64, 73, 88, 97, 101, 109–110, 118, 125, 130–132, 136, 140–141, 145 change, 6, 19, 33, 42, 51, 53–54, 64, 66, 69, 72, 78, 83, 101, 106, 108, 116, 123, 130, 146 character, 20, 29–31, 91, 93, 105, 125 characteristics, 2, 99, 142 child, 71, 131 children, 18, 46, 52, 70, 91, 109–110, 141 Christ, 49, 52, 65, 112, 127, 129–130 Christian, xvii, 2, 4–5, 9, 15–16, 21, 23, 29, 34, 37–38, 40, 42, 45–46, 48–52, 54–58, 63–67, 69–70, 72–74, 85–86, 88–89, 96–98, 100, 105–108, 112–115, 121, 125–130, 139–140 Christian churches, 2, 4, 15–16, 21, 38, 42, 49, 65, 88, 96, 125 Christianity, 4, 8, 10, 16, 29–30, 37–39, 43, 46, 49, 51, 54, 56–58, 61, 63–64, 73, 83, 86, 89, 95, 107, 113, 118 church, 4, 10, 16–17, 21, 35, 37–39, 46, 50, 52–54, 57, 65, 67, 70–71, 84, 86, 88–89, 95, 106–107, 109–110, 125, 127 Cikini Hospital, 66, 69, 74, 80 cities, 18, 137 civil religion, 62, 106–107 Clinical Pastoral Education, 4, 17–18, 21–22, 66, 69, 71, 74, 80 coaching, 66, 133 colonialism, 25, 35, 50, 114, 138 colonisation, 25, 52 community, 6–7, 9–10, 42, 50, 52, 54, 58, 63, 65, 70, 73–74, 80, 82–83, 91–92, 98–99, 101–102, 112, 123, 135, 139–140 compassion, 11, 65, 79, 108, 111–112, 130–132, 134 compassion fatigue, 11, 132, 134 concept, 5, 7–12, 20–21, 23, 36, 43, 65, 72, 90, 97, 101, 112, 114, 126, 130, 133, 138, 142, 145 203 Index conservative, 89, 93–94 context, v, 2, 5, 9–10, 37, 40, 68–69, 72, 84, 105–106, 108, 110, 118, 129, 135, 139 contextual, 6, 92, 96 corruption, 33, 86, 95, 110 create, 8, 24, 28, 65, 115 culture, 2, 7, 10, 23, 27, 29–30, 39, 46–47, 52–54, 57, 61, 64, 69–70, 72–73, 83, 85, 97–99, 101, 116, 123–124, 138, 140–142 D death, 23, 79 defined, 6–7, 38–39, 54, 61, 124 democracy, 16, 20, 31, 34, 36–37, 50, 87–88, 106 develop, 17, 19–20, 29, 32, 36–37, 43, 47, 65, 72–73, 76, 87, 117–118, 122, 127, 141 developing, 5, 17, 28–29, 63, 77, 96, 100, 114, 118–119, 138 development, xviii, 2, 6, 8, 16–18, 20, 23, 48–49, 51, 64, 73, 75, 80, 83, 87–88, 93–94, 96–97, 101, 108, 117–118, 122, 127, 137, 142, 146 dignity, 9, 45, 49, 113 diversity, xvii-2, 5, 10, 15, 19, 25, 30, 32, 35, 39, 41, 45, 52, 61, 63, 72, 87, 92, 97, 105, 108, 114, 117–118, 121, 137–138, 140, 145–147 door of no return, 115 door of return, 115 E East Timor, 29, 33–34, 67 economic, 6, 8, 33, 46–47, 56, 64, 71, 87, 97, 105, 122, 138, 141–142 education, 3–5, 11, 17–22, 34, 49, 57, 63, 66, 69–71, 74–75, 80, 85, 100, 102, 118, 123, 128, 147 environment, 5, 82–84, 109, 111, 126 ethical, 76, 106–108, 127 ethics, 85, 105, 110 Europe, 5, 9–10, 16, 52, 69, 89–90, 114, 117, 128, 137 204 F faith community, 80, 102 families, 19, 42, 47, 51, 92, 123–124, 135, 145 family, 6, 8, 18–20, 32, 42, 46, 58, 70–71, 81, 101, 135–137, 141 father, 27, 46 fear, 73, 79, 87 formation, 3, 61–63 G global perspective, 1–2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 122 globalisation, 6, 8, 48 God, 8–9, 12, 23, 29–31, 47–49, 65, 68, 77–79, 84, 90, 93, 110, 123, 127–129, 132, 134–135 God is Rice, 48, 128 government, 16, 26–29, 39, 42, 50–51, 56–57, 85, 94, 99 growth, 18, 68, 80, 110, 122, 139, 146 H healing, 24, 62, 79, 82, 92, 111, 113, 129–130 Hinduism, 20, 29–30, 39–41, 61, 91 holistic, 9, 62, 84, 111, 117 hope, 9, 23–24, 67, 88, 109, 112–113, 130–131, 136, 139, 147 hospitality, 82, 130, 139 households, 47, 110 human, 9, 36, 48, 61, 65, 77, 83, 108, 112–113, 118, 130, 138, 142 humanity, 31, 33, 38, 107, 112, 147 I identity, 40, 53, 70, 73, 76–77, 102, 111, 115–117, 125–126, 128, 136, 139–140 implementation, 54, 116, 128, 134 implications of, 45, 52, 122 importance, 2, 5, 9–10, 32–33, 40, 43, 47, 62, 64, 66, 76, 85, 95, 98–99, 110, 112, 139, 145 inclusion, 10, 52, 66, 82 inclusive, 55, 106–107, 124, 126–127 independence, 16, 26, 33, 37, 39, 56, 115, 117, 122 India, 2–6, 15–21, 25, 41, 63, 124 Index indigenous counselling, 10, 66, 73, 81–83 indigenous culture, 52, 54, 57 indigenous religions, 28, 41 Indonesia, xvii, 3–5, 7, 10, 15–17, 25–43, 45–46, 48–52, 54, 56, 58–59, 63–72, 74–75, 81–90, 92–97, 121, 123, 128–129, 137–141 influence, 6, 26, 36–37, 41, 46, 51–52, 54, 56–57, 63, 93, 95, 107–108, 114, 141, 146–147 injustice, 8, 86 integrate, 32, 54, 63 interests, 31–33, 40, 42, 56, 81, 86, 122 interpret, 35, 90 interpretation, 30–31, 39, 55, 93, 96, 107, 115, 138–139 Interreligious Asian Public Theology, 121–122, 124, 126, 128, 130, 132, 134, 136 interreligious dialogue, xvii, 42, 87–90, 92–93, 96 interreligious encounter, 92, 128 Islam, xvii, 28–30, 32, 34–37, 39, 41, 43, 46, 54, 56–59, 61, 63, 69–70, 73, 86–94, 96, 128 J Jakarta, 3, 7, 25, 28, 31, 35, 47, 63, 65–67, 69, 74, 80, 82, 84–85, 87, 89, 92, 96, 133, 141 Jakarta Theological Seminary, 47, 63, 82, 84, 96 Japan, 3–4, 15–17, 21–24, 62, 97–102 Java, 10, 25, 28, 30, 34–35, 38–39, 42, 49, 53, 86, 91, 94 Jesus, 21, 53, 65, 129 justice, 7–9, 31, 33–35, 58–59, 81, 109, 111, 123 K kenotic way of life, 49, 129–130 L language, 30, 37–38, 46, 101, 128–129, 132 laws, 47, 89 liberal, 36, 41, 89, 94–95, 108 liberation, 50, 106, 146 listen, 75, 77, 100, 131, 141 listening, 75–77, 79, 89, 100, 111–112, 132, 141 love, 65, 90, 93, 112 M marginalisation, 8, 105, 124 media, 85, 89 mercy, 66–67, 74–75 ministry of presence and compassion, 108, 111–112 mission, 40, 45, 54, 68–70, 82, 90 missionaries, 16, 40, 52, 54, 67 missionary, 16, 39, 53, 55, 68 moral, 20, 58, 106, 110, 112 mosque, 35, 50, 57, 69, 89 Muhammadiyah, 36, 57, 94 N Naqshbandiyya Haqqaniyya, 91–93 narrative, 98–100, 115, 139–140 need, 19, 27, 59, 64, 68, 76, 96, 101, 109, 116, 122–123, 126, 132, 139–140 network, 36, 94 networks, 89–90, 138 New Order, 26, 38, 56, 71, 86–87, 94 nurture, 111, 147 P Pancasila, 26, 28–33, 35–39, 43, 49, 59, 66, 94–95 Pancasila State, 29, 35, 37 paradigm, 7, 49, 129 parents, 19, 52, 70 Pastoral Care and Counselling, xvii, 2–4, 8–9, 15–18, 23, 62, 65, 69, 111, 113 Pastoral Ministry, 65, 68 pastoral psychology, xvii, 2, 10, 65–66, 83–84, 112 peace, 29, 33, 37, 50, 57–58, 65, 73, 81–82, 85, 93, 114, 129, 131, 139–140 people, 6–11, 16, 18, 20, 23–24, 26–28, 30, 33, 35, 42, 45, 48–49, 51–53, 205 Index 55–58, 63–64, 69–73, 77, 79, 81, 83–85, 87, 91, 98–101, 106, 109–111, 116, 118, 122–125, 127–132, 135, 138–142, 145–147 Philippines, 4, 16–17, 21, 63, 67–68, 74 philosophy, 28–31, 34, 38–40, 95, 106, 112–113, 123 pluralism, 36, 87–88, 94, 106, 124 political theology, 106–107 politics, 19, 27, 29, 33, 56, 58, 92, 147 poor, 8, 11, 47, 91–92, 106 poverty, 7, 18, 48, 71, 95, 110, 122, 126, 128 power, 23, 30, 32, 35, 37, 48, 50, 52, 87, 90, 97, 110, 114, 123–125, 138 Practical Theology, 5, 113, 117 praxis, 126, 147 prayer, 69, 91, 139–140 privatisation, 8, 32 process, 6, 58–59, 64, 79–80, 85, 99, 106, 108, 122, 131, 133, 138 protection, 134, 136 Public Pastoral Care, 105–106, 108–112, 114, 116, 118 Public Theology, 5, 8, 11–12, 96, 105–110, 112–114, 116, 118, 121–122, 124, 126–128, 130, 132, 134, 136, 147 R Ramadan, 86 reconciliation, 27, 29, 33, 37, 48, 55, 57, 59, 64, 66, 85, 113, 129, 146 reconciliation processes, 29, 55, 57, 66, 129 Reformed Church of Indonesia, 88 refugees, 6, 111, 136 relation, 3–4, 34, 47–48, 90, 106, 128 relational, 111–112 relationship, 37, 55, 78, 100, 125, 134, 136 religions, 1–3, 6, 8, 18, 23, 27–31, 33–35, 39–43, 50–51, 58, 61, 63–64, 66, 73, 83, 85–86, 88–89, 91–92, 95, 97–99, 101, 107–108, 123, 125–128, 138–139 206 representation, 99, 124, 142 research, xvii, 17, 21–23, 48, 52, 55, 58, 63, 82, 96, 109, 112, 114, 117–118, 139 resources, 4, 77, 83–85, 108, 115–116, 128–129, 133, 136, 139–140 responsibility, 27, 81, 85, 91, 100 retaliation, 29, 58 rights, 20, 27–28, 33, 94, 113, 124 risk, 131–133 Roman, 67, 127 S salvation, 65, 127, 130 school, 20, 68 scripture, 35, 139–140 second trauma, 11, 132, 134 secularisation, 32–33, 42 separate, 32, 36 services, 69, 74, 95 Sharia, 31, 90, 94–95 Shinto, 16, 97 societies, 2, 5–8, 10, 15, 17, 19–20, 47, 63–64, 93, 98, 105–108, 116, 118, 122, 124, 126, 128, 137–138, 145–147 society, xviii, 5–6, 8–10, 19–21, 26, 28, 34, 36–38, 46, 49–50, 57–59, 62, 64–65, 68–69, 71, 73, 81, 84–85, 88, 92–94, 97, 101–102, 106–109, 117, 122–124, 127, 147 soul, 8, 69, 83, 101, 111, 118, 134–135, 143, 147 South Africa, xvii-1, 8–9, 11, 15, 25, 45, 48, 61, 97, 105, 108–110, 113, 116, 121–122, 137, 145 space, 39, 50, 80, 92, 107, 135–136, 139, 146 spaces, 32, 55, 115, 136 Spiritual Counselling, xvii-12, 15, 17, 21, 25, 43, 45, 55, 61–64, 66, 68–76, 78, 80, 82, 84, 86, 88–90, 92, 94, 96–97, 100–102, 105, 108–109, 114, 116–118, 121, 126–128, 130–131, 136–138, 140, 142–143, 145, 147 Index spirituality, xvii-4, 9, 15, 20, 22–23, 25, 31, 45–46, 48, 50, 52, 54–56, 58, 61–64, 66, 68, 70, 72, 74, 76, 78, 80, 82, 84, 86, 88–94, 96–98, 101, 105, 111, 113, 115–117, 119, 121–125, 132, 134, 137, 139, 141–142, 145–147 status, 4, 18–19, 46–47, 58, 97, 122 stories, 48, 53, 73, 77, 100, 128, 139–140 story, 70, 100, 114, 129, 131, 139 suffer, 24, 48, 131–132, 139, 146 suffering, 6–7, 9, 11, 23, 49, 77–78, 100, 111–113, 129–133 supervisor, 17, 66–67, 73, 75 syncretism, 10, 40–41, 52 T teach, 43, 74 theology, xvii-xviii, 5, 8, 10–12, 30, 47, 49, 52, 66, 79, 82, 92, 96, 105–110, 112–118, 121–130, 132, 134, 136, 140, 142, 147 transformation, 3, 7, 62, 100, 115 transparency, 18, 71 trauma counselling, 29, 34, 64, 129, 132 trust, 47, 71, 73, 90, 129 U urban, 6, 51, 140–143 V value, 2, 37, 107, 112 values, 32, 36, 78, 93, 99, 107, 127 violence, 6–7, 11, 29, 33, 48, 55–56, 58, 64–65, 71, 82, 84–88, 90, 94, 109–111, 129, 138–140 virtue, 57, 76, 130 vulnerability, 129–130, 133–134 vulnerable, 45, 49, 110, 129, 132–133, 141 W wisdom, 54, 76–77 worship, 54, 57, 83 wounded healer, 49, 112, 129–132 written, xvii, 2, 39, 46–47, 75 207 The scholarly work takes specialists in the fields of pastoral theology and mental health traveling to different countries of South East Asia to witness the development of their Pastoral/Spiritual Care and Counselling. The academic journey includes Philippines, India, Japan and, of course, Indonesia. The book describes the political changes in the region, especially about colonialism of European countries. It explains how regional associations of Pastoral Care and Counselling attempt to improve the research of specialists in pastoral care through supervisor certification. With regards to Indonesia, the book introduces peers to the term Pancasila (five pillars), which is a state philosophy based on monotheism, humanity, democracy, and social and ethnic unity. Beliefs such as Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Native religions are considered Pancasila religions. The monograph also reflects on South Africa and on how churches and theologians were vocal against apartheid and promoted social justice as well as greater equality in race relations. Prof. Brenda Consuela Ruiz, Institute of Gender Studies, Polytechnic University of Nicaragua, Managua, Nicaragua. Dr. Ulrike Elsdorfer’s book brings in an important contribution to the field of Spiritual/Pastoral Care and Counselling. It represents an important evolution of the discipline. For a long time, the academic and practical field of Pastoral Theology, Pastoral Care, and Spiritual Counselling has been linked almost exclusively to Psychology, or Social Sciences at the most. This scholarly book navigates beyond the interface of Psychology and Pastoral Care. It balances the cultural, religious, ethical and political contexts as forces that affect the person seeking help as well as the work of the counsellor. The recognition, in the text, that there are other factors, such as cultural, religious, political and ethical factors, involved in the pastoral relationship with people, families, and communities authenticates a theoretical advance in current research. Prof. Ronaldo Sathler-Rosa, Department of Practical Theology, Methodist University, Sao Paulo, Brazil Open access at https://doi.org/10.4102/ aosis.2019.BK156 ISBN: 978-1-928396-98-7