Between Empowerment and Power: The Rise of the Self-Supporting Church in Western Flores, Eastern Indonesia

This article explores how ideas about empowerment often end up being manipulated by those in power, its implications, and what effect this has had on the trajectory of the Catholic Church in the western part of Flores during this period of revival, empowerment, and "indigenization". What many have referred to as a "decentralization of money politics" into the provincial regions during the regional autonomy era seems to have reinforced an increasing emphasis on money in power configurations; this has occurred not only in local political dealings, but also in the church hierarchy. Against the wider historical background of the Catholic Church in Western Flores, particularly the rise of the "self-supporting Church" in the Manggaraian Diocese, this article examines developments of indigenizing and empowering the local Catholic community. The suggestion is that the conflicts in the Manggaraian Church reflect strains that have existed historically in the structure of the Catholic Church and represent tension within the Church between struggles for power over the community and efforts to empower the community.