New archbishop for Bangkok: Pope appoints Francis Xavier Vira!

New archbishop for Bangkok: Pope appoints Francis Xavier Vira!

Bangkok, Thailand - In Bangkok there are significant news from the Catholic Church. Pope Francis officially accepted the resignation of Cardinal Francis Xavier Kriengsak Kovithavanij, the previous archbishop of the Archdiocese of Bangkok, on January 11, 2025, the day of his 75th birthday. This was recently announced by the Vatican Press Office. The decision was not surprising, since tensions between Kovithavanij and a large part of the priesthood had been known for some time. These tensions resulted from controversial decisions within the management of the Archdiocese, such as the news agency

new archbishop for Bangkok

After the resignation of Kovithavanij, Francis Xavier Vira Arpondratana, the previous Bishop of Chiang Mai, was appointed the new head of the Archdiocese of Bangkok. He takes over this position after he has acted as a transition manager since June last year. The Archdiocese of Bangkok, which was founded in 1949, has around 123,000 Catholic believers, which makes up for about 0.9 percent of the population in the mainly Buddhist region. Around 240 priests work in 60 parishes who are responsible for the pastoral care, such as kathpress.at . These developments mark an important change in the leadership of the Catholic Church in Thailand.