A Filipino priest born in Mindanao has been installed as the first Filipino Roman Catholic parish priest in Sweden early this month, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Wednesday.

In a report to the DFA, Philippine Ambassador to Sweden Maria Zeneida Angara Collinson said Fr. Gabriel Baldostamon was installed as parish priest of the Saint Nicolai Church in Linköping last January 10.

Fr. Baldostamon is from Marbel, South Cotabato, and has been serving the Filipino community in Sweden for several years.

As parish priest, Fr. Baldostamon will be attending to the spiritual needs and pastoral formation of the entire Swedish Roman Catholic community in Linköping with about 2,500 people.

Collinston expressed pride over Fr. Baldostamon’s installation as parish priest, adding that she is confident of his ability to renew and strengthen the Catholic faith, particularly in the context of increasing secularism in Europe.

There are about 92,000 Roman Catholics in Sweden. Linköping is the country’s fifth biggest city, located 172 kilometers southwest of the capital, Stockholm.

According to its website, the Catholic parish of St. Nikolaus in Linköping is named after its patron Nicolaus Hermanni (1325-1391), who was bishop of Linköping ime when St. Bridget of Sweden lived in the neighborhood.

The parish is geographically large, covering the Motala/Vadstena area at lake Vättern, across Linköping and further southeast down to Västervik by the Baltic Sea.

Fr. Baldostamon is a missionary from the Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ. Since August 2008, there has been a community of three Passionist priests in Linköping.