ASIA/MYANMAR - Appointment of the Auxiliary Bishop of Yangon

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - On 30 December 2014, the Holy Father appointed Rev. John Saw Yaw Han, Rector of the Major Seminary in Yangon as Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Yangon (Myanmar), assigning him the titular see of Buffada.
The newly-elected Bishop was born on May 5, 1968, in the village of Homalim, in the Archdiocese of Yangon. After primary and secondary school education he studied at the Bago College, in Yangon and earned a Bachelor in Geography. He then studied Philosophy and Theology at the St. Joseph National Major Seminary, first in Mandalay and then in Yangon. He was ordained a priest on March 18, 1995 and was incardinated in the Archdiocese of Yangon.
Since his ordination he has served in a number of pastoral and academic roles: 1995-1996: Assistant at St. Andrew Church in Nyaungdon; 1997-1998: Fidei Donum Missionary in the Diocese of Kentung; 1998-2000: Professor of Philosophy at the National Major Seminary in Mandalay; 2000-2001: Assistant at the St. Lazarus Church in Insein and St. Mary's Cathedral in Yangon; 2002-2004: Studies of specialization in the United States; 2004-2007: Professor of Theology at the National Major Seminary, in Yangon; 2008-2011: Rector of the Minor Seminary in Bago; since 2011: Rector of the National Major Seminary, in Yangon. (SL) (Agenzia Fides 30/12/2014)