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Local Capuchin Priest Appointed Bishop Of Sumatra Diocese

Updated: March 15, 2007 05:00 PM GMT
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Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Father Ludovikus Simanullang, a native Sumatran Capuchin priest, as bishop of the western Indonesian diocese of Sibolga.

Bishop-elect Simanullang, 51, speaking with UCA News on March 15 by telephone from Gunungsitoli, where he is based, said he received news of his appointment on March 11 in Jakarta from Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli, the apostolic nuncio to Indonesia.

Gunungsitoli is on Nias, an island off the western coast of Sumatra. It is in the territory of Sibolga diocese.

Vatican Radio announced the appointment on March 14. "Some priests and (lay) Catholics told me they learned of my appointment from Vatican Radio," the bishop-elect said. "Actually I felt incapable and afraid when I heard the news of my appointment. But then I realized that this is the task the Holy Spirit has chosen for me. So I accept the appointment wholeheartedly and believe that the Holy Spirit will help me," he continued.

Asked about his plans for the diocese, he said he does not have a plan yet, but "the first thing I will do is to visit all Catholics in the diocese, especially those suffering from earthquakes, to give them moral support."

An undersea earthquake off the western coast of Sumatra on March 28, 2005, caused extensive damage on Nias and left more than 500 people dead. That quake, measuring 8.7 on the Richter scale, came just three months after a 9.0-magnitude quake hit further northwest off the Sumatra coast on Dec. 26, 2004, spawning the tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people around the Indian Ocean region. At least 130 of those deaths were in North Sumatra province, which includes the territory of Sibolga diocese.

Father Barnabas Winkler, Sibolga diocesan administrator, spoke with UCA News on March 16 by telephone from Sibolga, 1,250 kilometers northwest of Jakarta. He also cited the effects of the disasters, saying rehabilitation of affected churches and other Church facilities should get high priority.

The Capuchin priest said he and all Catholics of the diocese welcome the appointment of the new bishop. "We feel happy because we have been waiting for years to have a bishop. This priest (Bishop-elect Simanullang) is a simple and humble man, and has experience as (Capuchin) provincial superior of Sibolga," Father Winkler said.

He also said he hopes the new bishop will resume pastoral service to Catholics including administration of the Sacrament of Confirmation. He noted many pastoral programs have been interrupted due to his own ill health and the lack of priests. "I hope the new bishop will invite more priests from other dioceses to work here. The number of Catholics is increasing, and new parishes have to be opened," the diocesan administrator added.

Sibolga´s former bishop, now Coadjutor Archbishop Anicetus Bongsu Sinaga of Medan, was transferred to the neighboring archdiocese three years ago.

According to Bishop-elect Simanullang, deepening Catholics´ faith is the main challenge facing him and all Church pastoral workers, since Sibolga is a relatively young Church. It became an apostolic prefecture on Nov. 17, 1959, and was elevated to a diocese in 1980. Archbishop Sinaga, also a Capuchin, was its first bishop.

"If the Catholic faith has taken root, then all other Church activities would run well," the bishop-elect said. He also said he hopes all priests, Religious, Church workers and lay Catholics in the diocese will to work together closely to develop the diocese.

Father Mikael To, head of Nias deanery, told UCA News on March 16, also from Gunungsitoli, that he and Catholics in his deanery, a grouping of parishes, welcome the appointment of the new bishop. The said he hopes the new bishop will prioritize pastoral visits to all parishes, especially those affected by the earthquakes.

Bishop-elect Simanullang was born in Sogar, a village in Sibolga diocese, on April 23, 1955. He joined the Capuchins on Jan. 12, 1976, and was ordained a priest on July 10, 1983.

He studied Franciscan spirituality and gained a doctoral degree from Rome-based Pontifical University Antonianum in 1993. After returning to Indonesia, he served 1994-1997 as master of the Capuchin postulants in Pematangsiantar, North Sumatra. From 1997 to 2006 he served as superior of the Capuchins´ Sibolga province for two consecutive terms, and in 2006 he was re-elected for another three-year term.

The 2005 Indonesian Catholic Church Directory lists Sibolga diocese as having 197,383 Catholics, or 8.6 percent of the total population in the Muslim-majority area. The diocese has 14 parishes, 12 diocesan priests, 44 Religious priests and 11 nuns.

END

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