When Archbishop Francis Xavier Kriengsak Kovithavanij answered a phone call last week, he was surprised to hear a message of congratulations from a friend.
Off to cardinal college: Bangkok Archbishop Francis Xavier Kriengsak Kovithavanij, who is among 20 new cardinals named last week.
Unbeknown to the archbishop, he had been named as one of 20 new Roman Catholic cardinals by Pope Francis spread across five continents and focusing on growing areas of the religion. Three new cardinals come from Asia: Archbishop Charles Muang Bo from Myanmar, Archbishop Pierre Nguyen Van Nhon from Vietnam and Archbishop Kriengsak.
Numbering 208 globally, cardinals are the most senior Roman Catholic clergy behind the pope, and those aged under 80 are entrusted with electing a new pontiff. Archbishop Kriengsak said he was totally surprised by his appointment and had to have the news double checked to see if it was true. Once it was confirmed he said he felt honoured to become Thailand’s second cardinal after Cardinal Michael Michai Kitbunchu, who was appointed in 1983.
The second of four children, Archbishop Kriengsak was born on May 27, 1949, into a Roman Catholic family. He was baptized on Aug 14, 1949, at Assumption Cathedral, where he was confirmed on Nov 9, 1958.
His secondary school education was at Assumptionsuksa School, Assumption College and Joseph Upatham School in Nakhon Pathom. He has a bachelor of philosophy and a bachelor of theology from Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome. He also obtained a master’s degree for studies of spirituality at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.
In 1966, he entered the Saint Joseph’s seminary in Nakhon Pathom. He became a deacon on May 30, 1976, and was ordained to the priesthood on July 11, 1976, at Assumption Cathedral, Bangkok, by Archbishop Michai. Then he was consecrated as bishop of Nakhon Sawan on June 2, 2007, and was installed as Archbishop of Bangkok on Aug 16, 2009, at Assumption Cathedral.
Spectrum spoke to Archbishop Kriengsak at Baan Phu Waan in Nakhon Prathom, a rural religious training centre for the Catholic church in Thailand. The Archbishop is now preparing to go to Rome to be inducted into the college of cardinals on Feb 14 and 15.
Leading the way: Thailand’s first cardinal, Archbishop Michael Michai Kitbunchu.
How did your interest in religion begin?
I was born into a Roman Catholic family. My life has revolved around the church and religious ceremonies ever since I was young. I first met an archbishop at Assumption Cathedral when my mother took me there and he started talking to me. I was really scared at that time since I felt intimidated by his charisma, so I was afraid to interact with him. I remembered he told me that I have a calling and I should be a novice and I said, ‘No, I won’t do it.’
When I was in high school, I was debating with myself whether I should follow my passion by enrolling at Silpakorn University, which is Thailand’s top art school, or whether I should be ordained as a priest. I finally decided to answer my calling by joining the priesthood.
How many Christians are there in Thailand? How do you plan to spread the word of God to others?
There are 350,000 Roman Catholics of 700,000 Christians in Thailand. This is less than 1% of the overall Thai population. The number of Christians has increased continuously but not in any great number. One of the missions of all Catholics is to show people to see the love of God while at the same time not imposing it on them. We want to build a society based on love by starting at the family level. Once the family is filled with love, the parents can set this example and give it to their children. Then the children will spread that love to society.
How difficult is it to spread the word of Christianity in a country where Buddhism is the main religion?
Catholics believe in the value of life and we love to share what we think is useful for others. I believe people who have faith in their own religion have their own practices. We are not trying to compete or convert anyone to what we believe. We are aiming to work together with people of different religions and share our ideas of what we believe in.
However, the main obstacle for us is secularism. It doesn’t mean that we are trying to oppose new inventions or technology. We do believe that these new technologies are here to support the principles we are teaching, but it is not the same as God. For example, a computer makes our lives a lot easier, but if one person relies on it too much and it becomes an addiction, that is not good.
We have our golden rule which all religions also have as a central concept, which is, do unto others as they would do to you. We respect other religions just like our own.
Archbishop Francis Xavier Kriengsak Kovithavanij.
Are there any areas of Thailand that have a higher number of Christians than others?
That would be Bangkok, only because there are a lot of people living and working in this area. Chiang Mai also has a lot of Christians. The metropolitan areas are the challenging areas for us because we have to try to help people who might be tempted by material things and become greedy and self-centred. Big towns can offer stability in work and life, but they can also offer distractions which are not always good. That is why we establish churches to help guide people in the right direction.
Do you have a mission to spread the word of God to ethnic groups?
Both Catholics and Protestants are trying to spread the word of God, which we call ‘announcing the good news’, in rural areas, especially to ethnic groups. There are some ethnic groups that already have basic values, for example, love and being faithful, which happens to match what we believe in. That is why we are trying to offer them an alternative religion on top of what they already believe in.
His local parish: Archbishop Kriengsak has a long association with Assumption Cathedral in Bangkok.
What role do you see Catholic schools play in improving Thai education?
The first school in Thailand with an actual schooling system was a Catholic school 350 years ago during the Ayutthaya period. After that, French missionaries started to open a lot more schools in different areas of Thailand with the main intention of improving the quality of human beings.
No matter what religion a person believes in, we are trying to offer them education to make them a better person. That is why we are helping a lot of underprivileged children, those who have no money and no access to good education. We are trying to help them as best we can, especially in isolated rural areas, such as hill tribe communities.
There are many schools that we have been supporting in hill tribe villages for more than 40 years. Hill tribe children who don’t have access to schooling can come to Catholic schools that we have opened in rural areas and receive a good education, for free.
New assignment: Yangon Archbishop Charles Maung Bo, in front of a portrait of Pope Francis, has been named a cardinal as Myanmar struggles with religious tension.
Are you excited to be part of the Feb 14 ceremony in Rome?
It is a coincidence that the induction ceremony this year is on Feb 14, which is St Valentine’s Day. The ceremony will be simple and easy, but it will be beautiful and graceful. I feel very honoured to get to be part of this ceremony.
The current pope seems to connect to people on a more human level. How does he do this?
The previous pope was also accessible, but because of his age he was unable to do much. Pope Francis changed the traditional ways of the pope. He is trying to act as simply as other people which makes him accessible to many levels of people. I believe this is what all the cardinals and archbishops want the pope to be. On the day of his installation as pope, we all said he had come to the right direction. n
Growing flock: Deaf worshippers at Our Lady of Fatima Church in Din Daeng. The number of Catholics in Thailand has been growing slowly but steadily.