Banda Aceh Church: A Hundred Years of Grace

A hundred years ago, a small church rose in the heart of Banda Aceh. It was the only Catholic church in Aceh—and it still is. The cream-colored building, with its 22-meter tower and an iron rooster on top, stands in the Peunayong area. On 26 September 2026, the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus turned 100 years old. The faithful celebrated it the next day, Sunday, 27 September 2026. This centennial celebration is not just about the age of a building. It is a thank-you for a hundred years of faithful presence in the land of Serambi Mekah.

Roots: Verbraak and a Mission Sown in Tears

The story goes back long before 1926. On 29 June 1874, Father Henricus Christian Verbraak, S.J., set foot in Aceh—three months after the Aceh War began. He came as an Aalmoezeneer, a chaplain for sick and dying soldiers. Until 1877, he lived in a simple hut that doubled as his chapel, built over shallow graves where the smell of the dead rose through the ground.

Verbraak served for thirty years. In a letter dated 1 June 1903, he wrote calmly, in detail, and with warmth. He baptized 22 people in January 1903—15 of them Chinese. He sailed the west coast on the Bantam, Both, and Jan, ships that often leaked. He married a local woman to an Indo-European sergeant, and gave First Communion to a soldier after teaching him the faith.

On 5 April 1885, a better ironwood chapel was used for the first time. It was dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, asking for the help of Saints Peter and Paul. This was the start of the church we know today. Verbraak left Aceh on 23 May 1907 because his eyesight was failing. The Governor walked him to the harbour; everyone came to see him off. He died on 1 June 1918 in Magelang – Central Java, never having seen the church that now stands.

The Relay: Jansen, Fisscher, and a Church That Endured

After Verbraak, the work was passed on. Another Jesuit, Father Theodorus Jansen, S.J., arrived on 18 May 1903. He became Verbraak’s assistant and carried on the renovation. Then, in November 1908, Father Henricus Fisscher, S.J., took his place. The church with the tower and the rooster—the icon we know today—opened in 1926, after renovations in 1924. It became the first Catholic church in Aceh, a witness to changing times: colonialism, Japanese occupation, revolution, and special autonomy.

For a century, this church has been a home for the Chinese Catholic community, a place where catechists taught Mandarin and the faith, and a comfort for Ambonese, Javanese, and Indo-European soldiers. It has stood without serious conflict with the Muslim majority—a sign that diversity is not a threat, but a gift.

The Jesuit tradition in Aceh did not stop with Verbraak, Jansen, and Fisscher. Father S. James Bharataputra became the fourth—and last—Jesuit to serve at the church in Banda Aceh. He ministered there from 1983 to 1991, part of the long relay of Jesuits who have been present in the land of Serambi Mekah. After his years of service, no Jesuit was assigned permanently to Banda Aceh again, making Father James the closing chapter of a long Jesuit presence at this church. The relay is now carried on by the priests of the OCD (Order of Discalced Carmelites).

2026: A Living Centennial

The celebration on 27 September 2026 was a thank-you for God’s faithfulness that never ends. Around 800 faithful gathered, together with 25 priests and 30 sisters from various congregations—OCD, OFM Conv. and OFM Cap., the Diocese of Medan, S.J., and the sisters of KYM, SFD, and SCMM. Their presence was a living picture of a church that is not just a building, but a living body.

The celebration grew even livelier with the presence of the Banda Aceh government. Representatives of the Mayor of Banda Aceh and the DPRA (Aceh House of Representatives) attended and gave speeches. Members of FKUB – the Forum for Religious Harmony, were also there, along with several pastors from local Christian churches. 

The people who came were not only from Banda Aceh. The Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish covers many stations spread far across Aceh. St. Peter’s Station in Takengon, Central Aceh, is 9–10 hours away from the parish center; St. Michael’s Station in Lhokseumawe is 7–8 hours; St. Anthony of Padua Station in Meulaboh, West Aceh, is 6–7 hours; and St. Stella Maris Station in Sabang can be reached in 1–2 hours by ferry. These distances are not just numbers. They are proof of the people’s faithfulness—they still come, even though the journey is long.

In the Jesuit tradition, magis means “more”—not more in quantity, but deeper in love and braver in staying present in the hardest places. Verbraak lived that spirit. He did not choose Aceh because it was easy, but because that was where he was called.

A hundred years is not an end. It is the start of a new chapter: the Catholics of Aceh are called to be more involved in social life, to be witnesses of compassion in a diverse society. On the altar, the words are still spoken: Cor Iesu, miserere nobis—Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us. From the mouth of a lonely missionary in a bamboo hut by the river, to the mouth of a young mother bringing her child to Sunday morning Mass.

Verbraak never saw this church. But he planted something deeper than a building: faithfulness to one’s calling, the courage to be present, and a love that does not count the cost. A hundred years of the Sacred Heart Church is the fruit of a seed sown in tears—and that flame keeps burning, small perhaps, but enough to light one corner of the land of Serambi Mekah.