Role of Taizé Music in Catholic Adoration and Protestant Ecumenical Community in Yogyakarta

Abstract

Taizé’s music comes from an ecumenical monastic order with an intense devotion to peace and justice through prayer and meditation. It was founded by Brother Roger Louis Schütz-Marsauche in 1940 in the French village of Taizé and later spread throughout the world. Now the Taizé community is also growing in Indonesia, especially in the city of Yogyakarta. The Taizé community introduced its model of worship consisting of prayer, music, and meditation. The Taizé community entered Indonesia through Ursuline nuns’ work, and some of them later chose Taizé music as their worship accompaniment. In Yogyakarta, Taizé music is being used formally in adoration worship, namely The Holy Hour Worship by the Congregational Scholastic Congregation of SCJ Yogyakarta. Simultaneously, an ecumenical community called DNTZ Yogyakarta sings Taizé music in ecumenical fellowship activities. These are voluntary activities which are performed at different places and open for public. These two models of Taizé music in Catholics and Protestants communities have become a unique phenomenon as both communities play an essential role in its development by helping each other and working together in harmony.