The Bishop of Bandung was elected to preside over the Episcopal Conference, replacing Card. Suharyo. He is 54 years old and his choice marks a generational change. Together with him, Bishop Paskalis Bruno Syukur, Bishop of Bogor, will be the new Secretary General.
Bandung () – The Bishop of the Diocese of Bandung, Msgr. Antonius Subianto Bunjamin, has been elected as the new President of the Indonesian Bishops’ Conference (KWI), while the Bishop of the Diocese of Bogor, Msgr. Paskalis Bruno Syukur has been elected Secretary General .
The decision marks a renewal within the Indonesian Church. Earlier this month, during the episcopal ordination of Bishop Valentinus Saeng as the new prelate of the diocese of Sanggau, Cardinal Ignatius Suharyo, outgoing president of the Indonesian Bishops’ Conference, had said that he hoped “the senior bishops will pass the baton to the youngest, since most of us are over 70 years old”.
Monsignor Bunjamin is 54 years old. He attended the Mertoyudan minor seminary, earned a doctorate in theology, and was prior of the Order of the Holy Cross, before being appointed Bishop of Bandung.
Bishop Syukur, for his part, is 60 years old. He was responsible for the Order of Friars Minor in Indonesia and also worked at the General House of Friars Minor in Rome. Both prelates come from West Java.
Mgr Bunjamin has been Secretary General of the Indonesian Bishops’ Conference for the past eight years, during which time he has demonstrated his ability to handle even the most difficult times for the local Church, including the resignation of two bishops, related to various scandals .
For the second time in the history of the Indonesian Catholic Church, the annual meeting of the KWI was held at the Bumi Silih Asih Convention Hall, owned by the Diocese of Bandung, for its headquarters in Menteng, in central Jakarta. , is still under construction. .
The meeting will conclude with a mass where all the bishops will meet with the local community.
