By Matters India Reporter

Denpasar, Bali: Promotion of inter-religious dialogue in Indonesia’s multi-religious cultural context is a top priority, says an Indian nun working in the Bali Island of the South East Asian nation.

“It is Catholic Church’s calling that we make efforts to foster and strengthen the culture of inter-faith interaction on a daily basis with people of other religions with a spirit of openness, so that our world would be a better place to live in peace and harmony,” Sister Thomas Kadalikattil told Matters India.

Sister Kadalikattil, a native from Calicut in the southern Indian state of Kerala, is a member of the Order of St. Brigita, a Sweden-origin congregation. At present she is working in Denpasar diocese of Bali, the only Hindu majority island and the most important tourist destination in Indonesia. Bali is a part of the Minor Sunda Islands and is separated from the island of Java by the Bali Strait.

In Bali, Sister Kadalikattil along with two other nuns — another Indian and an Indonesian—serve the community in accordance with the request of the local parish priest. The nuns are often called by local hospitals and by families to help the sick and the dying regardless of their religious faith.

“We avail ourselves to maintain good rapport with people of other faiths as a joyful encounter of life. We have good cooperation with our Hindu and Muslim brothers around. We make it a point that our relation with them is a top priority,” Sister Kadalikattil said.

In the church of the Kuta, two nuns take care of the chapel of Adoration and the other manages the parish office. Every Sunday they distribute Holy Communion during three Masses. Two sisters work also in the office of the cathedral.

Earlier Sister Kadalikattil worked Maumere, a town on the island of Flores, with a population of just under 100,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of one of the districts that divide the island, the Regency of Sikka, in the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara.

The St Brigita Sisters work in Italy, Switzerland, England, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Estonia, Poland, Germany, Netherlands, India, Palestine, Israel, Philippines, Indonesia, USA, Mexico and Cuba.