Syukur renounces appointment as cardinal

Reactions in Indonesia to the choice of the bishop of Bogor who asked Francis to be removed from the list of bishops who will receive the purple on 7 December. Bishops' Conference president Antonio Subianto Bunjamin: “Bishop Paskalis knows what is best for him, for the diocese and for the Church”.

Jakarta (AsiaNews) - The announcement by the Vatican last night that Pope Francis has accepted the renunciation of the appointment as cardinal of Msgr. Paskalis Bruno Syukur, bishop of Bogor, one of the 21 new cardinals who were announced on 6 October last and who will be created in the next consistory on 7 and 8 September, was greeted with great astonishment in Indonesia.

‘His Excellency's request is motivated by his desire to grow further in his priestly life, in his service to the Church and to the people of God,’ the director of the Vatican Press Office, Matteo Bruni, wrote in a note.

Bishop Suykur, a 62-year-old friar minor, who has led the Bogor diocese since 2013 and is also secretary of the Indonesian Bishops' Conference, would become the first cardinal from Flores, the island that is considered the heart of Indonesian Catholicism. When his appointment was announced, which came as a surprise, everyone in the local community had already stressed the great simplicity of this bishop. And today his gesture is seen in continuity with this human trait of his.

From Rome, where he is attending the Synod, the president of the Indonesian Bishops' Conference, Bishop Antonius Subianto Bunjamin of Bandung, said he was shaken by the news. But he quickly added: ‘We appreciate Mgr Paskalis’ decision. Surely he knows what is best for him, for his diocese and for the Church in general. Let us pray'.

With Suykur's resignation, there remain three cardinals in the history of the Indonesian Catholic Church: the first was Justinus Darmojuwono, archbishop of Semarang, who received the purple from Paul VI in 1967 and died in 1994. The other two are both living: Card. Julius Darmaatmadja, Archbishop Emeritus of Jakarta, now 90 years old, who was created Cardinal by John Paul II in 1994, and Card. Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo, the current archbishop of the capital, who was awarded the title by Pope Francis in 2019.