Patung Pastor di Taman Maluku

Patung Pastor H. C. Vebraak yang berada di Taman Maluku

Pastor H. C. Verbraak

  Pastor H. C. Verbraak, seorang perawat rohani Katolik Pasukan Belanda. Bertugas di Aceh dari tahun 1874 sampai 1907. Meninggal tanggal 1 Juni 1918 di Magelang. Entah kenapa patung ini disimpan di Bandung. Lalu, mengapa patung ini bisa bertahan? Menurut seorang warga senior yang bernama Pak Goerjama (Juga salah satu anggota Bandung Heritage), sewaktu jepang datang ke Indonesia, patung ini sempat dikubur oleh Belanda dan diangkat kembali setelah Jepang pergi dari Indonesia.

     Didalam dokumen yang ditulis oleh Pater F. van Hoeck, S.J. Dikisahkan secara rinci kehidupaan Pastor H. C. Vebraak ini. Di awal dokumen, kata pengantar yang ditulis pada 1924 oleh seorang Gubernur Jendral Belanda di Aceh yang bernama Letjen J.B. van Heutz. Dia menulis perjumpaan-nya yang secara pribadi dengan Pastor H. C. Vebraak ini. Dia menulis :

“… I had the privilege to know this great man of whom the Roman Catholic Church can be proud of, during the years of my assignment to Atjeh. I have seen him carry out his duties from close distance. How he administered the means of grace of the Church to the wounded, the sick and the dying, without fear for his own personal safety and not at all concerned about being infected by cholera and other diseases. He was respected and loved by people of all faiths, by officers and minors alike, because for him everybody was the same: everyone was God’s child. He was there to soothe the grief and the pain. And he worked for 33 years as long as his strength did not fail him. A true servant of God, his whole life devoted to his fellow human beings with complete self-denial, without ever asking something for himself.”.

(Oleh Aldi)

(Sumber dari Komunitas Aleut dan Puja Sumarta Multiply)