EWTN News, Nov 29, 2025 / 07:00 am

Roughly 500 miles east of Bali lies the island of Flores, a vocational powerhouse that supplies seminarians not only to Indonesia but also to Catholic communities around the world. Catholicism first arrived here in the 16th century, when Portuguese spice traders brought missionaries to the rugged, mountainous island. Today, the faith is deeply rooted, with more than 80% of the island’s 2 million people being Catholic.

Flores hosts several seminaries, most clustered around Maumere on the island’s northern coast. Religious congregations including the Society of the Divine Word (SVD), the Somascan Fathers, the Rogationists, the Vocationists, and the Carmelites all operate seminaries there, creating a dense network of vocational formation rarely found elsew

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