Note: This article represents the author\u2019s personal opinion and does\nnot reflect the views of the CNBCIndonesia.com Editorial Team.<\/p>\n
For an intellectual community aware of history, celebrating the 68th\nanniversary of the Ikatan Sarjana Katolik Indonesia (ISKA) today should\nbe a moment that unsettles us. We are not gathering to shake hands,\nrecite prayers, parade a string of degrees, or admire past heritage.<\/p>\n
In a landscape of an era fragile due to pragmatic politics and the\nbanality of thought, nearly seven decades of age constitutes an ethical\ndemand to conduct a radical self-examination: Are Catholic scholars\nstill the salt that dissolves, or have we long since estranged ourselves\nin ivory-tower comfort?<\/p>\n
Our motto, Pro Ecclesia et Patria, Pro Bono Publico (For Church and\nCountry, For the Public Welfare) is not merely an old creed, but a heavy\ndialectical burden. Here, the commitments of faith and nationalism do\nnot stand independently, but converge to one endpoint: the general\nwelfare.<\/p>\n
Saint Thomas Aquinas taught that grace does not destroy nature, but\nperfects it. Christian faith has never asked a scholar to dull his\nreason. Rather, it becomes a beacon that compels reason to move beyond\nthe narrow confines of utilitarianism in order to defend the public\ngood.<\/p>\n
This ethical responsibility is reinforced by the historical legacy of\nMgr. Albertus Soegijapranata, namely that being an Indonesian Catholic\nmeans being \u201c100% Catholic and 100% Indonesian.\u201d At ISKA\u2019s 68th year,\nthis instruction must be read again with a sharper and fresher\nanalytical blade, not merely as rhetoric to sweeten speeches.<\/p>\n
Being 100% Indonesian means being fully engaged, without distance, in\nevery pulse of the nation\u2019s malaise. Being 100% Catholic means carrying\nthe principle of firmness that above all systems of law, economy, and\npolitics, human dignity is the supreme principle that must not be\nsacrificed. When law is manipulated and social justice commodified, a\nCatholic scholar who keeps still is betraying both identities at\nonce.<\/p>\n
Collectively, we need to articulate ideological reflections, to face\nthe mirror of today\u2019s reality without apology. Why do the voices of\nCatholic intellectuals often sound muffled, hesitant, or even absent\nwhen power structures increasingly neglect public ethics?<\/p>\n
The greatest threat to ISKA today is not external pressure, but\nelitist complacency within its own body. When members prefer the safe\nrole of a compliant technocrat to being prophetic voices that reaffirm\nthe altar of humanity.<\/p>\n
In concert with the various problematic national circumstances, both\nwithin the Catholic Church and externally, our motto Intelligentia Ad\nFelicitatem Omnium (Intelligence for the Happiness of All People) finds\nits urgency to challenge our attitudes and responsibilities as Catholic\nscholars, also as citizens who have the right to speak on contextual\nrealities.<\/p>\n
Knowledge and scholarly degrees we possess become existentially\nvalueless if they merely swirl in air-conditioned seminar rooms, or\nsimply become tools of vertical mobility for personal welfare.<\/p>\n
The intelligence of a Catholic scholar is tested by how far he can\nunravel the tangled web of structural poverty, ecological damage, and\nthe erosion of the pillars of democracy at the grassroots. If the\nknowledge we hold fails to bring happiness to those marginalised, then\nthat intelligence has collapsed into intellectual blindness.<\/p>\n
At this juncture, celebrating ISKA\u2019s 68 years is to reassess our\nfidelity to the cross, knowledge, and humanity. In the face of the\nChurch\u2019s altar and under the banner of Ibu Pertiwi, let us end the\nbarren rhetoric.<\/p>\n
It is time to restore the moral stature of Catholic scholars as a\nbastion of morality and a driver of concrete change. Shared happiness is\nour compass, and the national struggle is the battleground for a\nCatholic scholar.<\/p>\n
Happy 68th Dies Natalis of the Ikatan Sarjana Katolik Indonesia.\nRemain restless, remain critical, and keep serving.<\/p>\n
Pro Ecclesia et Patria, Pro Bono Publico! Vivat ISKA!<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/reflections-on-iskas-68th-anniversary-the-salt-that-melts-or-the-ivory-tower-1779545523", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }