Catholic Church in Indonesia
part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church in Indonesia (Indonesian: Gereja Katolik di Indonesia) is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the pope in Rome. Catholicism is one of the six approved religions in Indonesia, the others being Islam, Protestantism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. According to official figures, Catholics made up 3.12 percent of the population in 2018. The number of Catholics is, therefore, more than 8.3 million. Indonesia is primarily Muslim, but Catholicism is the dominant faith in certain areas of the country.
The Church is organised into one military ordinariate, 10 archdioceses and 28 dioceses, all of which are members of the Indonesian Catholic Bishops Conference (KWI) led now by Bishop Antonius Subianto Bunjamin from the Diocese of Bandung. There are several Catholic religious institutes active in the country including the Jesuits, the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC) and the Divine Word Missionaries.
Catholicism in Indonesia began with the arrival of the Portuguese in search of the Spice Islands in the 16th century. Currently, East Nusa Tenggara and South Papua province in Indonesia are the only places where Catholicism is the dominant faith of the population, with around 55% and 50% of its population respectively. There are also significant Catholic populations in North Sumatra, West Kalimantan, South Sulawesi, Maluku and Central Java, especially in and around Muntilan.
“Catholic Church in Indonesia” enters the record as part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Catholic, Church and Indonesia can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Catholic Church in Indonesia” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Catholic, Church and Indonesia provides the most credible route into that argument.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2061558. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2018.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Catholic Church in Indonesia”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Catholic Church in Indonesia primary sources, Catholic Church in Indonesia archive and Catholic research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Catholic Church in Indonesia”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Catholic Church in Indonesia” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.