This first of two volumes documents the history of the Roman Catholic Church in Indonesia from 1808, when priests were again allowed in the Dutch colony after two years of exclusion, until 1903, when the number of Catholics started to grow spectacularly. Illustrations.

Karel Steenbrink has written extensively on Islam in Indonesia, where he taught for a number of years. He is now affiliated with the Interuniversity Institute of Missiological and Ecumenical Research in Utrecht, The Netherlands.