The Society of Jesus has a new Thai Jesuit priest. Francis Xavier Manasan Wongvarn (Yoht) SJ was ordained to the priesthood on May 24, 2014 by Bishop Silvio Siripong Charatsri DD of Chanthaburi at Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Bang Saen, Chonburi province.
The church, which is a Jesuit parish and has around 150 parishioners, was filled to overflowing by the 800 family, friends, fellow Jesuits, priests and Religious who gathered to witness the momentous occasion.
Fr Manasan, who is from Bangkok, celebrated his first mass the next day, in the same parish. He joined the Society of Jesus in 2001 when he was 19, exactly 13 years before he was ordained. Most of his formation years were spent in the Philippines, in Arrupe International Residence, studying in the Loyola School of Theology and Ateneo de Manila University.
His ordination was a particularly momentous occasion for the Jesuit Thai Region. It has been eight years since the last priestly ordination of a Thai Jesuit. Fr Augustinus Sugiyo Pitoyo, Superior of the Thai Region of the Society of Jesus, recalls that Cardinal Michael Michai 
Kitbunchu, Emeritus Archbishop of Bangkok, used to joke that Jesuits in Thailand are like elephants in that they have a long pregnancy!
There are 35 Jesuits in Thailand, most of them in formation. Though their number is small, they work in several ministries including Jesuit Social Services Centre, Catholic Undergraduate Centre, Jesuit Prison Ministry, Lux Mundi Major Seminary, Seven Fountains (the Jesuit spirituality centre in Chiang Mai), Youth Formation (Candidacy Program), and Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Bangsaen.
Fr Manasan will be assigned to Xavier Hall, the hub of Jesuit activity in Thailand, as a minister, and St Francis Xavier Oratory at Victory Monument, Bangkok as an assistant.
