Fr Pibul is my boss here at Caritas Thailand. As you know, he has been named as the new Bishop for Nakhon Sawan which is the diocese to the north of Bangkok. Since I first announced this news, I have found out some fascinating statistics of this diocese which are so typical of a Thai diocese outside of Bangkok or Tharae over in Isan.
Nakhon Sawan Diocese covers a wide geographical area that has a population of eight and a half million people. Within the diocese, there are only 16,000 (according to the Vatican) Catholics. My calculator tells me that the Catholic population is then .0018% of the total population. Most of these Catholic are ethnic hilltribe people. Those not counted are any Catholics that may be among the many Burmese who have fled Myanmar and live along the border in this diocese among the many camps or towns but then interestingly they are not included in Church statistics, let alone national statistics.
I think this is enough for an introduction. It speaks for itself. I am sure more will follow on Bishop Pibul and Nakhon Sawan Diocese.
I am John Murray, an Australian, Catholic priest of the Order of St Augustine. I live and work in Thailand and have been here since October 2005. I have many stories from my life journey and would simply like to share some of them. So hope you enjoy and go away sometime with a smile or a helpful little insight.
We gather
to give thanks for my 25 years.
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