The Passionist priest Valentinus Saeng was ordained bishop of Sanggau at the Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral on November 11 in West Kalimantan, Indonesia.
As many as 34 bishops from Indonesia as well as a bishop from Sarawak, Malaysia, hundreds of priests and religious men and women, and thousands of devotees attended the episcopal ordination.
Archbishop Piero Pioppo, the Vatican Ambassador to Indonesia, was delightful to ordain the new prelate of the Diocese of Sanggau.
"I am confident that all of you, officials, bishops, priests, and God's people, share my sentiment. Christ the Good Shepherd desires not only to appoint a new and young bishop to this ancient and illustrious local church, but he has also chosen a son from the Dayak tribe," he said.
Bishop Valentinus Saeng, CP (Congregatio Passionis), the newly ordained bishop, thanked the Vatican Ambassador, who was happy to be the main celebrant with the other bishops, priests, and congregation there.
Bishop Saeng was born in the village of Keramuk in the regency of Sekadau in the province of West Kalimantan.
Before becoming Bishop of Sanggau, he directed the Passionist Spirituality House in Malang and taught philosophy at the Institute of Philosophy and Theology (STFT) Widya Sasana in Malang, East Java.
He speaks five languages well, including English, Italian, German, French, and Latin. He is also very interested in studying philosophy.
Sanggau is a regency in the West Kalimantan province. It is in the middle and north of the region, about 1,553.1 kilometers from Jakarta, which is the capital of Indonesia.
As many as 565,600 people reside in the territory. Dayaks constitute 55% of the population in the districts of Sanggau and Sekadau in West Kalimantan. In addition, there are 30% Malay, 7% Javanese, 5% Chinese, and 3% other tribes.
On June 8, 1982, the diocese was created, comprising the West Kalimantan regencies of Sanggau and Sekamtau. It is a suffragan diocese within the archdiocese of Pontianak's ecclesiastical jurisdiction.
There are 25 parishes in the region, which is home to 344,172 (53.76%) Catholics. In the diocese, there have been approximately 30 priests and 36 congregations. -Kasmir Nema.
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