Bishop Joseph Sangval Surasarang, former prelate of Chiang Mai in Thailand, died on Thursday evening, February 10, LiCAS News learned.
He joined the Sacred Heart Seminary in Sriracha District, Chonburi, after finishing Grade 12 at Assumption Sriracha School.
From 1956 to 1963, he studied at the Pontificio Collegio Urbano de Propaganda Fide in Rome where he graduated with a Masters degree in Philosophy and Theology.
The late prelate was ordained priest in Rome by Cardinal Pietro Agagianian on Dec. 22, 1962.
He was appointed bishop of Chiang Mai by Pope John Paul II on Oct. 17, 1986, and was consecrated bishop on Jan. 6, 1987.
Bishop Sangval, as he was known, retired on Feb. 10, 2009.
“Bishop Sangval had a great sense of humor, very friendly, and warm,” said Chainarong Monthienvichienchai, chancellor of St. John’s University in Bangkok.
“He spoke some Karen language and usually began his Mass with the hill tribe people in his diocese with the Karen language,” he said.
People in Thailand remember the late bishop for accompanying then Pope St John Paul II during his two-day visit in the country.
Bishop Sangval later described the pontiff as the “bishop of the mountain dwellers.”
