The 69-year-old bishop of Chiang Mai has been appointed by Pope Francis as successor to Cardinal Kriengsak Kovithavanij, who had left the leadership of the archdiocese in June. Originally from Samsaen, he was appointed bishop in 2009 by Benedict XVI, and in recent months he led the Catholic community of the Thai capital as apostolic administrator.
Bangkok () – Monsignor Francis Xavier Vira Arpondratana, 69, is the new archbishop of Bangkok. Pope Francis today appointed him as successor to Cardinal Francis Xavier Kriengsak Kovithavanij, whose resignation he had accepted in June for having reached the age limit, 75 years established by the Code of Canon Law.
Bishop Vira Arpondratana, until now bishop of Chiang Mai, was already in charge of the Catholic community of the Thai capital as apostolic administrator. Announcing the appointment today, in collaboration with the Vatican Press Office, the Apostolic Nunciature in Bangkok invited everyone to “join the Church of Thailand in prayer for Archbishop Francis Xavier Vira Arpondratana and for all the faithful under his pastoral care.” ”.
Bishop Francis Xavier Vira Arpondratana succeeds the only two cardinals in Thai history: before Kovithavanij, the Bangkok Church was headed by the cardinal. Michael Michai Kitbunchu, now 95 years old, whose tenure lasted from 1972 to 2009. Kitbunchu ordained both Kovithavanij and the new archbishop as priests, the latter on June 7, 1981 at the age of 25. The Archdiocese of Bangkok – erected as the Apostolic Vicariate of Siam in 1662 – has more than 122,000 faithful, 59 parishes and a clergy of approximately 240 priests, in a context in which the vast majority of the population is Buddhist.
Archbishop Francis Xavier Vira Arpondratana was born on October 3, 1955 in Samsaen, one of the oldest neighborhoods in Bangkok. He completed his school and priestly training in Thailand. From 1981 to 1985 he was vice-rector of the San José de Sampran minor seminary. He was then sent to Rome to continue his pastoral and catechetical studies at the Pontifical Salesian University from 1985 to 1988, where he obtained a degree in youth ministry and catechesis. Since 1988 he was director of the diocesan catechetical center in Bangkok. In 1992 he was appointed secretary of the Education Commission of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Thailand. On February 10, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him bishop of Chiang Mai, in the mountainous northern part of the country, and he was ordained bishop on May 1, 2009 at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart. In recent years he has led the local Catholic community, which has approximately 55 thousand faithful.
He is dean of the Faculty of Catechism and professor at the Lux Mundi major seminary in Sampran since 2000.
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