Joseph Chusak Sirisut ( th, ยอแซฟ ชูศักดิ์ สิริสุทธิ์, born February 24, 1956) is a Thai Roman Catholic prelate currently serving as the bishop of the

Diocese of Nakhon Ratchasima The (Roman Catholic) Diocese of Nakhon Ratchasima (''Dioecesis Nakhonratchasimaensis'', th, สังฆมณฑลนครราชสีมา) is located in the north-east of Thailand. It is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Thare ...

in northeastern

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

Life

Born at Bang Nok Kwaek, the center of the Diocese of Ratchaburi, he studied at the Sampran Major Seminary to become a priest. He received a B.A. in scholastic administration at the

Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University or STOU () is the only open university in Thailand. History Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University was officially established by royal charter on 5 September 1978 as Thailand's eleventh state university to ...

and a Masters in

Theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

in the United States. He was ordained as priest on May 11, 1984. After ordination he was first headmaster of the Daruna school, in 1986 became administrator and director of the Ratchaburi Institute. 1987 he was assigned to the Kanchanaburi parish and later to Ratchaburi parish. 1995 he became assistant priest at St. Girolamo in Samut Songkram, 1997 diocesan bursar and chancellor. From 2000-2004 he was a Licentiate in Theology at St. Tomaso in Manila. Returning to Thailand, he was professor at the Sampran major seminary and director of the Centre for Cultural and Religious Research at Sam Phran. On November 30, 2006, he was appointed as the bishop of Nakhon Ratchasima, and ordained on February 10, 2007, by his predecessor

Joachim Phayao Manisap Joachim (; ''Yəhōyāqīm'', "he whom Yahweh has set up"; ; ) was, according to Christian tradition, the husband of Saint Anne and the father of Mary, the mother of Jesus. The story of Joachim and Anne first appears in the Biblical apocryphal ...

. Co-Consecrators were the

Apostolic nuncio An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international org ...

in Thailand, Archbishop

Salvatore Pennacchio Salvatore Pennacchio (born 7 September 1952 in Marano, Italy) is a Catholic archbishop and diplomat of the Holy See, currently president of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy. Biography He received his priestly ordination on 18 September ...

, and George Yod Phimphisan, Bishop of

Udon Thani Udon Thani ( th, อุดรธานี, ) is a city in Isan (Northeast Thailand), the capital of Udon Thani Province and with a population of approximately 430,000 in its urban area the 7th largest city in the country. The city municipality ...

Coat of arms

The bishopric coat of arms is subdivided into four fields. The star in the upper right quarter symbolizes

mother Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

. To the upper left is the holy bible and a

housel The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instituted ...

below. The pigeon in the lower right holds an olive branch in her beak, the common

peace symbol A number of peace symbols have been used many ways in various cultures and contexts. The dove and olive branch was used symbolically by early Christians and then eventually became a secular peace symbol, popularized by a ''Dove'' lithograph by ...

. In the lower left is a

Fleur-de-lis The fleur-de-lis, also spelled fleur-de-lys (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a lily (in French, and mean 'flower' and 'lily' respectively) that is used as a decorative design or symbol. The fleur-de-lis has been used in the ...

, which is the symbol of

Saint Joseph Joseph (; el, Ἰωσήφ, translit=Ioséph) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who, according to the canonical Gospels, was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. The Gospels also name some brothers of ...

, the patron saint of the bishop. His motto written below the shield is "Ad Gloriam Dei" (''to the glory of God'', 1 Corinthians 10:31).Coat of arms description at diocese website
(Thai)

References

External links

Fides Service on his appointment as bishop
(Thai) {{DEFAULTSORT:Sirisut, Joseph Chusak 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Thailand 1956 births Living people