Nakhon Ratchasima (AsiaNews) – Last Saturday Mgr Joseph Chusak Sirisut became the new bishop of the diocese of Nakhon Ratchasima. He was consecrated in Our Lady of Lourdes Cathedral in a ceremony presided by the former Titular Bishop Mgr Joachim Phyao Manisap, the Apostolic Nuncio Mgr Salvatore Pennacchio, and the Chairman of the Bishops’ Conference of Thailand Mgr George Yod Phimphisarn. Some 6,000 people attended the function.
Mgr Manisap, who was born in 1929, is retiring for health reasons and because of age. He was the diocese’s first Thai-born bishop replacing Mgr Alan Wangaware, who took over the diocese when it was first created on December 18, 1965.
Mgr Sirisut was born on February 24, 1956, in Rajbhaburi province. He is the seventh child in a family of nine siblings. He entered a minor seminary in 1965 and then graduated from the Lux Mundi Major Seminary in Samphran, Nakhon Pathom, with degrees in philosophy and religion. He was ordained by Pope John Paul II on May 11, 1984.
The new bishop (who chose the motto “Ad gloriam Dei”, “For the Glory of God”) told AsiaNews that he must first of all “learn the history and culture of the diocese, the language of the people of my new home as well as continue the pastoral plan of predecessor.”
“The challenge,” he said, “is not the pastoral or evangelisation work but how to have good team work . . . how to let the priests, the religious and the laity work harmoniously as a team.”
“I will also use my past experience in inter-religious dialogue,” he added, “so that minority Catholics will be accepted in society as brothers and sisters by majority Buddhists.”
Between 1995 and 2000, Mgr Sirisut was the secretary of the Commission for Inter-faith Dialogue of the Bishops’ Conference of Thailand and taught at the Lux Mundi Seminary.
The new bishop’s appointment has been favourably received by non Catholics. Phramahaporaklit Kantasilo, a monk from Dusitdaramworaviharn Buddhist Temple , said that Mgr Sirisut is “an example of love, of someone who accepts everyone the way they are and a good administrator who doesn’t show off his ego at work. [With him] inter-faith dialogue has a promising future.”
Mitre Darachai, from the Islamic College of Thailand, said that “he is devoted to the social good: a sincere man who is always behind the scenes working for the unity of people of different faiths, a man who encourages people who work for with him and never puts blame on anyone.”
The diocese of Nakhon Ratchasima covers 41,148 km2 in three provinces (Nakhon Ratchasima, Buriram and Chaiyaphum). It has a total population of 5,220,430 of which 5,721 are Catholics with 29 parish priests, 3 brothers and 32 sisters. There are also six catholic schools and St Mary’s Hospital, an important health care facility for the poor in the north-east. The national Intermediate Seminary is also located in this diocese.
