Ignatius Sandyawan Sumardi is a former

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

priest, closely linked to

humanitarian Humanitarianism is an ideology centered on the value of human life, whereby humans practice benevolent treatment and provide assistance to other humans to reduce suffering and improve the conditions of humanity for moral, altruistic, and emotiona ...

activities in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

after the Indonesian 1998 Revolution.

Early life

Son of Andreas Sumardi (a retired police lieutenant) and Suzana, he was born in Jeneponto,

South Sulawesi South Sulawesi () is a Provinces of Indonesia, province in the South Peninsula, Sulawesi, southern peninsula of Sulawesi, Indonesia. The Selayar Islands archipelago to the south of Sulawesi is also part of the province. The capital and largest ci ...

, as the youngest son of the family that depended on his father's modest salary. Following his father, Kuncoro, as Sandyawan was called during his childhood, was raised in different places, from

Ujung Pandang Makassar ( ), formerly Ujung Pandang ( ), is the capital of the Indonesian province of South Sulawesi. It is the largest city in the region of Eastern Indonesia and the country's fifth-largest urban center after Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan, and Ba ...

(Provincial capital of South Sulawesi, now called

Makassar Makassar ( ), formerly Ujung Pandang ( ), is the capital of the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of South Sulawesi. It is the largest city in the region of Eastern Indonesia and the country's fifth-largest urban center after Jakarta, ...

) to Banjarnegara (where he finished the elementary school), to Bantul and

Magelang Magelang () is one of six cities in Central Java, the Central Java Province of Indonesia that are administratively independent of the regencies in which they lie geographically. Each of these cities is governed by a mayor rather than a Subdivi ...

(where he entered the seminary school of his own choice), and then, finally, he entered the seminary school in

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta is the capital city of the Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by Hamengkubuwono, a monarchy, Yogyakarta is regarded as an importan ...

. Since a very early age and especially during his period of study, Sandyawan developed an aspiration and life-mission to help the poor and others who were less fortunate. Sandyawan was ordained as priest in 1988.

Humanitarian work

1980s

Sandyawan started as an activist when he was in the seminary in Yogyakarta, in mid 1980s. He studied the life of the poor's by putting on disguise and blend into the people, so that they don't know that he's a priest. He disguised himself as a sugar factory laborer in

Kendal Kendal, once Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Westmorland and Furness, England. It lies within the River Kent's dale, from which its name is derived, just outside the boundary of t ...

Central Java Central Java (, ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogya ...

. For one whole month, Sandyawan worked as a laborer. The next month, he disguised himself as a farmer laborer in a village in Wonosari. He also took the role of laborer around Jakarta. The longest time he has been in disguise is when he was a milk factory laborer in Cijantung. While in disguise, he was able to discuss and exchange conversations with the actual laborers about their problems. While in Yogyakarta, he was active in educating and empowering the rickshaw drivers. He counseled homeless families in Indonesia. He also helped Father Mangunwijaya in the latter's work with the displaced people of Kedung Ombo. Upon being ordained, Sandyawan joined Institut Sosial Jakarta, an NGO which was founded in 1985 by several Catholic priests and monks focusing on counselling laborers. Soon after, Sandyawan was appointed as Operational Director of the NGO.

1990s

In Indonesia his figure has become the focus of attention since the incident of 27 July 1996. While doing this he and his team continuously were hindered, mainly by those holding political/military power. Sandyawan's Independent Fact Finding Team, which intends to support those who become victims of brutal violence, mutilation and rape during the May 1998 riot, constantly have to face daily terrors and risk their lives.

Retirement from priesthood

Sandiawan decided to retire from priesthood to concentrate on social activities, such as supporting the people of Kampung Pulo. He was quoted as saying that he would rather be called "Bapak" (mister in

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

, which also means "father") rather than "Romo" (how people address Catholic priests in Java, from "Father" in High Javanese). He shared his experience supporting a poor community living by the Ciliwung River in the ''Asian Theology of Liberation Symposium'' in 2014.

Early life

Humanitarian work

1980s

1990s

Retirement from priesthood

References

See also