The ordination of Bishop-elect Fransiskus Tuaman Sasfo Sinaga of Sibolga diocese in North Sumatra, Indonesia, is again postponed indefinitely due to COVID-19.
The prelate’s ordination was first set on May 20 but was postponed after the Indonesian government implemented strict travel restrictions ahead of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan last month.
A new date for the ordination was set on June 27 but it was later canceled after Bishop Sinaga was found positive of COVID-19 on Friday, June 11.
“I was told by the medical staff that I have contracted the virus and now I am hospitalized in Medan, the provincial capital of North Sumatra,” said the prelate in a message to LiCAS.news.
The bishop-elect’s predecessor, Bishop Anicetus Sinaga, died of COVID-19, the first Catholic bishop in Indonesia to succumbed to the disease.
“For this serious health condition … we have to decide to once again postpone the episcopal ordination,” said Father Blasius Yesse, the diocesan secretary of Sibolga.
Pope Francis named Bishop Sinaga as the new prelate of Sibolga on March 6. He will be the third bishop of the diocese.
The Diocese of Sibolga covers a huge territory from the western coastal region of West Sumatra and several districts in North Sumatra Province and a small part of Aceh province, and Nias Island.