“Love is where giving and receiving meet according to the example of Jesus,” said Mgr Joseph Phibun Visitnonthachai, the new bishop of Nakhon Sawan on taking office last Saturday.The ceremony, held on the Feast Day of the Holy Name of Mary, was celebrated by Card Michael Michai Kitbunchu in Nakhon Sawan’s main stadium.
Thirteen bishops and the Apostolic Nuncio, Mgr Salvatore Pennacchio, took also part in the service, as did about 200 priests and more than 5,000 worshippers.
Mgr Visitnonthachai was born in 1946 in Nonthaburi, north of the capital. In 1957, he entered the Bangkok seminary, run at that time by Mgr Kitbunchu, who was not yet a cardinal, and was ordained on 17 March 1974. Since then he has served as deputy secretary of the Bishops’ Conference of Thailand, secretary of Caritas Thailand and secretary of the Commission for migrants and prisoners.
The Pope appointed him to his new post on 19 June of this year. He is the diocese’s fifth bishop, replacing Mgr Francis Xavier Kriengsak Kovithavanij who was appointed archbishop of Bangkok.
During the celebration, the new bishop said that “when Monsignor Pennacchio phoned me to tell me about the Pontiff’s decision I was very surprised, thinking about my own sins. He told me that in Nakhon Sawan there are very few Catholics, but many religious and ethnic groups. He urged me not to fear, that this was a call from the Lord to which I had to respond as best as I could.”
Mgr Visitnonthachai chose as motto “God is love” (1 Jh, 4:16), remembering the love of Jesus who, “When he was insulted, [. . .] returned no insult; when he suffered, he did not threaten [. . .] He himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross, so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness” (1 Pt, 2:23- 24).
Talking about his priestly journey, which began at the age of 11 when he decided to enter a seminary, he thanked Cardinal Kitbunchu, who was one of his teachers at the time, highlighting his example as the foundation for his vocation.
The new prelate also looked back at his parents who made him understand that “poverty need not be suffering but rather a blessing from the Lord towards whom he calls us so as to be an example of someone who wants to fight for the many poor families in the world, showing them how to overcome obstacles.”
The diocese of Nakhon Sawan was created in 1967 and is the largest in the country. It includes 13 provinces and has a population of eight million people. It is home to 15,993 Catholics divided among 28 parishes.
Locally animism is still practiced by a number of local tribal peoples. Often villages have a priest and shaman.
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