Albertus Soegijapranata (25 November 1896 – 22 July 1963) was a Jesuit priest who became the Apostolic Vicar of Semarang and later its archbishop. He was the first native Indonesian bishop and known for his pro-nationalistic stance. A fictionalised biopic by Garin Nughoho, entitled Soegjijro, was released to popular acclaim in 2012.
About Albertus Soegijapranata in brief
Albertus Soegijapranata (25 November 1896 – 22 July 1963) was a Jesuit priest who became the Apostolic Vicar of Semarang and later its archbishop. He was the first native Indonesian bishop and known for his pro-nationalistic stance, often expressed as “100% Catholic, 100% Indonesian”. Soegija was born in Surakarta, Dutch East Indies, to a Muslim courtier and his wife. His family moved to nearby Yogyakarta when he was still young, and he was baptised on 24 December 1910. He died in 1963, in Steyl, the Netherlands, and his body was flown back to Indonesia, where he was made a national hero. A fictionalised biopic by Garin Nughoho, entitled Soegjijro, was released to popular acclaim in 2012. The university in Semarangs is named after him, as is a large part of the city’s public library and a large section of the Dutch-language media centre in the city. He is buried in the Giri Tunggal Heroes’ Cemetery inSemarang, near his former home in Yogyaksar, Indonesia. He also served as a mediator between several political factions in the post-revolution years, and was made an archbishop on 3 January 1961, when Semar Mang was elevated to an ecclesiastical province. Soegajro was a karang (martyr) who was killed by the Japanese during the Second World War.
His name was derived from the Javanese word soegijai, meaning rich–dié, meaning “rich” or “wealth” He was married to Soepiah, an abangan Muslim, and the couple had nine children. The family later moved to the Sunanate of Surakarta, and Soega was later a kyai karangan (karang means rich) and soegija karayan (kharayan) soegjiro, meaning ‘rich’ or ‘wealth’ He was also known as ‘Soegija’ and’soegijar’ (soegjir) because he was the fifth in a family of nine children, and later’sugjir’ (meaning rich) or ‘karayan’, meaning ‘to be rich’ He became a teacher in Muntilan, and then a priest in Bintaran, before returning to the Netherlands in 1928 to study theology. In 1931 he was ordained by Bishop of Roermond Laurentius Schrijnen, and added the word ‘pranata’ to the back of his name. He then went back to the Indies to preach and became a parochial vicar at the parish in Kidul Loji, YogyAKarta, and in 1934 he was given his own parish. He focused on creating a sense of Catholicism within the native community, emphasising the need for strong bonds between Catholic families. During the Empire of Japan invaded the Indies beginning in early 1942, and during the ensuing occupation numerous churches were seized and clergymen were killed.
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This page is based on the article Albertus Soegijapranata published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 04, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
