The archdiocese had been vacant since November 2015. The new archbishop is a professor in canon law and teaches at the local seminary. Semarang provides pastoral care to more than 404,000 Catholics and 98 parishes.
Jakarta (AsiaNews) – Pope Francis on Saturday named Fr Robertus Rubiyatmoko as the new archbishop of Semarang (Central Java), Indonesia. The see was vacant since the death of Archbishop Johannes Pujasumarta, in November of 2015.
Fr Rubiyatmoko Robertus, 53, is professor of canon law at the Faculty of Theology of the University of Sanata Dharma in Yogyakarta, also in Central Java. He also teaches at St Paul Major Seminary, also in Yogyakarta.
Born in Sleman (Yogyakarta) on 10 October 1963, Fr Rubiyatmoko entered St Peter Canisius Minor Seminary, Mertoyudan. He later completed his philosophical and theological studies at the Pontifical Faculty in Yogakarta and was ordained priest on 12 August 1992 by Mgr Julius Darmaatmadja, Archbishop of Semarang.
Covering an area 21,000 square kilometres, the Archdiocese of Semarang provides pastoral care to more than 404,000 Catholics out of a population of 22.8 million.
It is divided into 98 parishes, with 399 priests (203 diocesan and 196 religious), 221 men and 1,162 women religious and 60 major seminarians.