Appointment of bishop of Ban Mê Thuôt, Vietnam
Appointment of bishop of Tanjore, India
Appointment of coadjutor bishop of Hpa-An, Myanmar
Appointment of auxiliary bishops of the archdiocese of Bangalore, India
Appointment of bishop of Ban Mê Thuôt, Vietnam
The Holy Father has appointed the Reverend Fr. John Baptist Nguyen Huy Bac, of the clergy of Ban Mê Thuôt, until now director of the Pastoral Centre and chair of the Regional Commission for Catechism of the ecclesiastical province of Hue, as bishop of the diocese of Ban Mê Thuôt, Vietnam.
Curriculum vitae
Msgr. John Baptist Nguyen Huy Bac was born on 15 October 1967 in Ban Mê Thuôt. He carried out his studies in philosophy and theology at the Stella Maris Major Seminary of Nha Trang.
He was ordained a priest on 1 March 2000 for the clergy of Ban Mê Thuôt.
After ordination, he held the roles of parish vicar (2000-2003) and parish priest (2003-2010) of Phuoc Long. He was awarded a master’s degree in missiology from the Pontifical University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Philippines (2010-2012) and a master’s degree in catechism from the Don Bosco Centre of Studies in Manila (2013-2014). He went on to serve as director of the Pastoral Centre and chair of the Commission for Catechism of the diocese of Ban Mê Thuôt (since 2014), and president of the Regional Commission for Catechism of the ecclesiastical province of Hue and vice-president of the Commission for Catechism of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Vietnam.
Appointment of bishop of Tanjore, India
The Holy Father has appointed the Reverend Fr. Sagayaraj Thamburaj, of the clergy of Tiruchirappalli, until now professor at Saint Paul’s Seminary, as bishop of the diocese of Tanjore, India.
Curriculum vitae
Msgr. Sagayaraj Thamburaj was born on 14 March 1969 in Ayyampatty, in the diocese of Tiruchirappalli. He studied philosophy and theology at the Sacred Heart Seminary in Poonamalle, Chennai, and was ordained a priest on 17 April 1996. He was awarded a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Madras, a master’s degree from Madurai Kamaraj University, and a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Madras.
He has held the following offices: deputy parish priest of Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Tiruchirappalli (1996-1997); parish priest in Marianthapuram (1997-2004); secretary of diocesan bodies of the presbyteral Senate (2001-2007), the SC/ST Commission (2004-2009) and the diocesan Synod (2005-2007); director of the Pastoral Centre and coordinator of the diocesan Commissions (2007-2012); parish priest in Manaparai (2012); rector and parish priest of Saint Mary’s Cathedral and visiting professor of the major seminary of Chennai and Tiruchirappalli (2017-2023); and since 2023, professor at Saint Paul’s Seminary in Tiruchirappalli.
Appointment of coadjutor bishop of Hpa-An, Myanmar
The Holy Father has appointed the Reverend Fr. Stanislaus Min Ko, of the clergy of Hpa-An, Myanmar, until now parish priest of the Christ King Catholic Church and director of the diocesan Liturgical Commission, as coadjutor bishop of the same diocese of Hpa-An.
Curriculum vitae
Msgr. Stanislaus Min Ko was born on 1 February 1873 in Okpo Township, Myanmar. He studied philosophy at Saint Joseph’s Major Seminary of the archdiocese of Mandalay, and theology at Saint Joseph’s Catholic Major Seminary of the archdiocese of Yangon.
He was ordained a priest on 20 December 2003 for the clergy of Yangon; with the creation of the diocese of Hpa-An, taken from the archdiocese of Yangon, he was incardinated in 2009 in the same diocese.
He has held the following offices: parish vicar of Saint Francis Xavier’s Catholic Church, Hpa-An (2004-2007); parish vicar (2007) and parish priest (2007-2008) of Saint Andrew’s Catholic Church, Nyaungdon; parish priest of Saint Thomas’ Catholic Church, Myawaddy (2008-2013); parish priest of Saint Joseph’s Catholic Church, Theinseik (2017-2018); and since 2023, parish priest of Christ King Catholic Church, Tha-Ton, and director of the diocesan Liturgical Commission.
Appointment of auxiliary bishops of the archdiocese of Bangalore, India
The Holy Father has appointed the following as auxiliary bishops of the archdiocese of Bangalore, India, from the clergy of the same metropolitan See: the Reverend Fr. Arokia Raj Satis Kumar, until now diocesan chancellor, assigning him the titular See of Castellum minus; and the Reverend Fr. Joseph Soosainathan, until now parish priest of Sacred Heart, assigning him the titular See of Castra Galbae.
Curriculum vitae of Msgr. Arokia Raj Satis Kumar
Msgr. Arokia Raj Satis Kumar was born on 5 September 1977 in Bangalore. He studied philosophy and theology at Saint Joseph’s Seminary, in the diocese of Mangalore, and was ordained a priest on 2 May 2007 for the archdiocese of Bangalore.
After ordination, he first served as deputy parish priest of Saint Joseph, Saint Francis Xavier’s Cathedral and Christ the King in Malleswaram (2007-2010). He was awarded a licentiate from Saint Peter’s Pontifical Institute in Bangalore (2010-2012). After serving as parish priest of Christ the King in Malleswaram (2012-2014), he obtained a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical Urban University in Rome (2014-2017). He went on to hold the offices of judge of the ecclesiastical tribunal (since 2017), rector of Bhavan Bhakti Minor Seminary and parish administrator of Lourdes in Tumkur (since 2018), diocesan chancellor (since 2019), professor of canon law at Saint Peter’s Pontifical Institute in Bangalore (2020), and coordinator of studies of major seminarians (since 2021).
Curriculum vitae of Msgr. Joseph Soosainathan
Msgr. Joseph Soosainathan was born on 14 May 1964 in Bangalore. He studied philosophy at Saint Peter’s Pontifical Seminary and theology at Saint Paul’s Seminary in the diocese of Tiruchirappalli.
He was ordained a priest on 15 May 1990 for the archdiocese of Bangalore.
He has held the following offices: deputy parish priest of Saint Joseph and Saint Francis Xavier Cathedral (1990-1991), parish priest of Saint Anne (1991-1997), Saint John Evangelist (1997-2004), Our Lady of Fatima (2004-2010 and 2017-2020), Saints Peter and Paul (2010-2017) and Sacred Heart (since 2020).
