Cardinal Michael Michai Kijbunchu of Thailand celebrates the 40th anniversary of his election to the cardinalate and the 50th anniversary of the Archbishop of Bangkok's consecration on June 3, Thai Catholic Media reports.
The oldest cardinal in Asia is Kijbunchu, the 94-year-old Archbishop Emeritus of Bangkok. He has spent 63 years as a priest, 50 years as a bishop, and 40 years as a cardinal.
He was born on January 25, 1929, in Sam Phran, a district of Thailand’s Nakhon Pathom province, to a family of Chinese descent.
His mother converted to Catholicism following his grandfather's marriage to a local when he immigrated from China.
He was ordained as a priest for the Archdiocese of Bangkok on December 29, 1959, was made a bishop on June 3, 1973, and was made a cardinal on February 2, 1983. On May 14, 2009, he stepped down as Bangkok's archbishop.
The Archdiocese of Bangkok would hold a simple celebration to mark the occasion.
Catholic youth in Thailand have printed T-shirts, and a portion of the income after deducting the cost goes to the Cardinal Michael Michai Kichbunchu Mission Fund.
A few days ago, the Thai Catholic media invited Thai Christians to send a congratulatory message to Cardinal Kijbunchu on the 50th anniversary of his episcopal consecration.
And the Catholic media in Thailand will collect all the texts into a book to give to Cardinal Kijbunchu on June 3. – Santosh Digal
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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