Mgr Anthony Weradet Chaiseri ordained as the new Archbishop of Thare and Nongseng
This is an "historic event" that created in everyone “the sense of the Church, the bride of Christ”. Eleven Thai bishops, Nuncio Archbishop Paul Tschang In-Nam, Buddhist leaders, hundreds of priests, and 10,000 people attended the ceremony. Friendship pervades the mission.
Tha Rae (AsiaNews) – “This historic event created in all of us the sense of the Church, the bride of Christ on her way to the heavenly homeland, led by the Shepherd Christ, represented on earth by the bishop,” said Fr Adriano Pelosin, as he described the ordination of Mgr Anthony Weradet Chaiseri, the new Archbishop of Thare and Nongseng, in north-eastern Thailand.
The ceremony took place on 15 August, the solemnity of the Assumption of Mary. The new bishop, 57, was born in Tha Rae and studied in Thailand, the Philippines and Rome. Before serving as the archdiocese’s episcopal vicar, he was parish priest, teacher (including Laos), in charge of youth missionary education. He is a member of the Focolare movement.
According to the Pontifical Yearbook, the Archdiocese of Thare and Nongseng has 54,990 members living in 80 parishes.
On 15 August Fr Anthony Weradet Chaiseri was ordained bishop in the new cathedral of Tha Rae (north-eastern Thailand). He succeeds Mgr Louis Chamnian Santisukniran.
As this video shows, Thailand’s 11 bishops were present in the presbytery, led by Archbishop Card Francis Xavier Kriengsak Kovithavanij of Bangkok, who also heads the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Thailand (CBCT).
The Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Paul Tschang In-Nam, a Korean, and his secretary, from Colombia, represented the Pope and the universal Church.
The invited guests included six Buddhist monks, heads of local districts in Sakornakon province, sitting in the first row. The province’s Buddhist religious leader, the Chao Khun, gave a jasmine crown to the new bishop, who reciprocated.
The provincial governor, who sat in the second row on the right, looking at the presbytery, also gave and received a jasmine crown. Other government and high-ranking police officials were also present.
About 300 priests from Thailand’s dioceses and scores of religious from various congregations filled the two rows in the central part, plus countless numbers of of nuns and lay people; about 10,000 people in all, this despite COVID-19 restrictions.
The ceremony went off smoothly, with live commentary and large screens outside the cathedral, broadcast around the world via Facebook and YouTube.
Coming together as brothers and sisters was a great joy: the beauty of the cathedral, the splendour of the vestments, the depth of the ritual of the episcopal consecration, the anointing of the sacred chrism, the handing over of ring, the crosier, the mitre and the pallium, the solemn melody of the songs ...
Everything conveyed the peace and tranquillity of a great people who participated in this historic event in a joyful and pious way, creating in all of us the sense of the Church, the bride of Christ, on the way to the heavenly homeland led by the Shepherd Christ represented on earth by the bishop.
The liturgical celebration was followed by a bountiful meal, amid artists performing traditional dances from north-eastern Thailand.
Upon arrival the previous day, the bishops and priests were booked in local hotels where they enjoyed a good dinner whilst watching a video of the new archbishop. Some wealthy Catholic families paid for almost all of their expenses.
Please, allow me to use this page to send my best wishes of good apostolate to the new Archbishop of Thare and Nongseng, Anthony Weradet Chaiseri.
My thanks also go to his predecessor, Mgr Luis Chamniern Santisuknriran, a dear friend of mine, who was for many years the CBCT representative in the Thai Missionary Society, the local missionary institute with which I have worked for more than 30 years.
* Superior of the Thai Missionary Society
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