CV NEWS FEED // Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Cardinal Francis Xavier Kriengsak Kovithavanij as the Metropolitan Archbishop of Bangkok amid internal archdiocesan tensions.
On June 27, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Cardinal Francis Xavier Kriengsak Kovithavanij from his position as the Metropolitan Archbishop of Bangkok, AsiaNews reported.
The announcement of the accepted resignation coincided exactly with the cardinal’s 75th birthday, the age at which the Code of Canon Law requires all bishops to submit their resignation to the pope.
Sources in Bangkok informed AsiaNews of a rift within the archdiocese between the prelate and a significant portion of the clergy regarding certain governance decisions. As a result, the prompt acceptance of his resignation at the age of 75 was reportedly unsurprising.
Kriengsak Kovithavanij was the second cardinal in the history of the Thai Church, following his predecessor in the See of Bangkok, Archbishop Emeritus Michael Michai Kitbunchu, who led the archdiocese from 1972 to 2009.
The archdiocese of Bangkok has been provisionally entrusted to Bishop Francis Xavier Vira Arpondratana of Chang Mai, as Pope Francis has not yet chosen a successor for the Cardinal.
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