Pope appoints 2 bishops in Indonesia

By Vatican News staff reporter

Among the other appointments of Pope Francis on July 3 are a bishop each in Chad and Mexico, and 2 bishops in Italy.

Palembang Archdiocese

In Indonesia, he transferred Bishop Yohanes Harun Yuwono of Tanjungkarang as Archbishop of Palembang, in south Sumatra province.  His appointment on the eve of his 57the birthday came after the Pope accepted the resignation of Archbishop Aloysius Sudarso of Palembang.   Archbishop-elect Yuwono was born on July 4, 1964, in Way Ray - Padang Dermin, in the diocese of Tanjungkarang. He completed his philosophical and theological studies at Saint Petrus Inter-diocesan Major Seminary in Pematangsiantar, Sumatra.

He was ordained a priest on December 8, 1992, for the diocese of Pangkalpinang.  Thereafter, he was assigned the following responsibilities:

- 1993-1994:  Assistant parish priest in Sungaliat and responsible for the parish of Mentok.

- 1994-1998: He obtained a licentiate in Islamology from the Pontifical Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies - PISAI in Rome, Italy.

- 1998-2008:  Formator at the Saint Petrus Inter-diocesan Major Seminary; lecturer in Islam at the STFT Saint Yohanes Institute of Philosophy and Theology and rector of the preparatory course in Pematangsiantar

- 2008-2009:  During a sabbatical year in the Philippines he took a short course at the East Asian Pastoral Institute in Manila, the Philippines.

- 2009-2010:  Rector of the Saint Petrus Inter-diocesan Major Seminary in Pematangsiantar and professor of Islam at STFT Saint Yohanes.

- Jul. 19, 2013: Appointed bishop of Tanjungkarang and consecrated on the following October 10

- Oct. 10, 2013: Consecrated bishop.

Diocese of Padang

Elsewhere in Indonesia, Pope Francis appointed Father Vitus Rubianto Solichin S.X., as bishop of the Diocese of Padang, in West Sumatra province.   The 52-year-old priest of the Pious Society of Saint Francis Xavier for the Foreign Missions (Xaverians), is a lecturer in the major seminary and rector of the School of Philosophy, Jakarta. 

The See of Padang has been vacant since the death of Bishop Martinus Dogma Situmorang, O.F.M. Cap., on November 19, 2019. 

Father Solichin, was born on 15 November 1968 in Semarang, Java Island. He entered Saint Petrus Canisius Minor Seminary in Mertoyudan, Semarang, and later the Pious Society of Saint Francis Xavier for the Foreign Missions (Xaverians). He continued his philosophical studies at Driyarkara High School of Philosophy, Jakarta, and theological studies at Wedabhakti Pontifical Theological Faculty, Yogyakarta. He professed his religious vows in the Xaverian Congregation on March 18, 1996.  Following his priestly ordination on July 7, 1997, he held the following responsibilities.

- 1997-2001: Obtained a licentiate in sacred Scripture at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, Italy.

- 2001-2007: Professor of sacred Scripture at Driyarkara High School of Philosophy and Major Seminary in Bandung.

- 2007-2012: Obtained a degree in Biblical theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome. Since 2013: Professor and vice-chairman for Academic Affairs at Driyarkara in Jakarta; member of the Xaverian Formation Team and the Xaverian Provincial Council of Indonesia.

- Since 2015: Rector of the Jakarta School of Philosophy.

- Since 2018: President of the Indonesian Biblical Scholars Association.