Surabaya, new Bishop Tri Budi Utomo: 'Becoming friends of Jesus with a smile'

In the diocese on the island of Java, the ordination of the new prelate at the Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral. During the homily the invitation to give attention to the “crisis of love” identified by Benedict XVI: “The smile in the Jubilee is a Holy Door,” he said. Also present at the rite was his friend Fr. Pat Min Seong, a deaf-mute priest from South Korea.

Surabaya (AsiaNews) - The diocese of Surabaya, a maritime city on the island of Java, welcomed new Bishop Agustinus Tri Budi Utomo, who was ordained yesterday at the Cathedral Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the presence of Card. Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo, archbishop of Jakarta, who invited him to be called “father bishop” instead of resorting to the feudal expression “monsignor.”

The decision underscores the significance of service to God's people, among people, welcomed by the Catholic community.

Addressing the large assembly present at the episcopal ordination, the new bishop “Father Didik” - the affectionate name by which he has always been called - said in his homily that the Catholic Church should pay attention to what has been called by Pope Benedict XVI a “crisis of love.”

“A friend, the head of a religious congregation, told me one day after meeting Pope Benedict that most of us - members of religious congregations - have often lost our true religious identity and that service in the Church is slowly becoming similar to that of an NGO,” that is, lacking heartfelt passion.

“Today we are called to become friends of Jesus,” the new bishop said in his first homily. Inviting us not to forget the centrality of love in ministry - lay and ordained - in the Church. “Even priests, nuns and religious brothers are easily tempted to become superior to the laity.”

“Even in my own experience,” he added, ”I always remember that one of the most influential actions as a good friend of others is to try to smile. A simple and affordable gesture that sometimes becomes very difficult to practice. “The smile becomes a very urgent issue in this Jubilee, because it is almost like a Holy Door,” the new prelate said.

Also at the ordination mass was Fr. Pat Min Seong, a South Korean priest who has been deaf-mute since childhood. “Today I have a special guest,” Fr. Didik said. “He wanted to serve others among the mute and deaf, but no seminary would accept him as a seminarian, until after years he found an American seminary that allowed him to study and finally be ordained as the first deaf-mute priest in Asia,” he recounted. “Last year I met him and jokingly he told me, 'Someday you will probably become a bishop and if it really happens I will come to attend your episcopal ordination.'”

“I am very happy that today the Catholic community in the Diocese of Surabaya is becoming more friendly toward people with disabilities,” continued Agustinus Tri Budi Utomo. ”Let's move forward to change our house, our priests, our religious communities to become more and more welcoming to others.