Sejiram, which is located about 617 kilometers Northeast from Pontianak (the capital of West Kalimantan) and 119 kilometers from Putussibau (the capital of Kapuas Hulu Regency), is the capital of Seberuang Subdistrict where the site of Gereja Katolik Santo Fidelis Sejiram located. The local citizens consist of some Dayaknese such as Dayak Seberuang, Dayak Suaid and Dayak Kantu. The history of the church can be simply described based on the datas in Parish of Saint Fidelis Sejiram.
It was in 1892, on the bank of sungai (river) Seberuang, P. H. Looymans, SJ, who then became the first missioner for the Dayaks in Kapuas Hulu, and some people, who are the local citizens, built a church, which was simply made from some woods as its base. Then, it was named and called the Catholic Church of Saint Fidelis Sejiram. But few years later, the church had been fired. It was known that the church had been renovated for two times since it had been built. Now, the existentce of the church has become the oldest church building in Kapuas Hulu Regency and the Christian’s pride building in Sejiram.
The church has three doors and some unique characteristics there. As simply description, from the outside, there is a Cross up on the tower and a rooster statue above the Cross. Beside the Cross and the rooster statue, there is a garden near the road on the right the church and a parish house on the left. Inside the church, the first thing that we can see are some statues located on the right and the left side and a Cross. One of them is the Saint Fidelis statue and the one which is on the left of the Cross is Marry statue.
That picture shows Pastor René Collin, OMI and Matheus Kusai stood at the bank of river Seberuang in front of “Gereja Katolik Santo Fidelis Sejiram” in 1980’s. From the history of the church, the following feature describes timeline of congregates working in Sejiram, which are:
- Society of Jesus (SJ) from 1890 to 1900
- Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (O.F.M. Cap) from 1905 to 1938
- Serikat Maria Monfortan (SMM) 1938 to 1970
- Oblat Maria Immaculata (OMI) from 1970 to 2006
- Congregation of the Passion (CP) from 2006/2007 – now
Based on the decree of Minister of Culture and Tourism RI No:KM.10/PW.007/MKP/03, which is carried out by Father Bishop Mgr. Agustinus Agus, Pr. (the Bishop of Sintang Diocese) and Drs. H. Tambul Husin (the Regent of Kapuas Hulu Regency) on 22nd September 2004, the church of Saint Fidelis Sejiram has been declared as a cultural heritage.
By that announcement, the government in Kapuas Hulu Regency, the Christian leader in Sintang Diocese and the local citizen have an opportunity to promote and to expose the church, and it would be better if they can manage the existence of the church by promotion using printed or electronic mass media.
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