The ordination of the 46-year-old paediatrician drew attention not only because of his unusual background, but also because it reflected a lifelong path shaped by service, faith, and quiet discernment. Priests with medical backgrounds remain rare in Indonesia, placing Fr. Yandis among a small number of Catholic clergy and religious who once pursued careers in medicine before entering Church ministry. His journey bridges two worlds often associated with healing: medicine and pastoral care.
Before entering seminary formation, Fr. Yandis worked at several hospitals, including Borromeus Hospital and St. Yusup Hospital in Bandung. Patients and colleagues knew him as a paediatrician. Within Church circles, however, signs of a possible vocation had long been noticed.
Born and raised in Jakarta, Fr. Yandis came from St. Anna Church in Duren Sawit Parish, East Jakarta. After graduating from high school, he enrolled at the Faculty of Medicine of Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia, where he studied from 1998 to 2005. He later specialized in paediatrics at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila from 2008 to 2018 before completing an equivalency program at Padjadjaran University in Bandung, West Java.
Even while immersed in medicine, Church life remained part of his daily rhythm. From a young age, he served as an altar server and remained active in pastoral activities. During his formation as a diocesan priest candidate in the Diocese of Bandung, he carried out pastoral work at the “Sahabat” tutoring centre from 2016 to 2018 and later became an altar server mentor at St. Paul Church in Toha Parish, Bandung, from 2019 to 2020. Following his ordination by Bishop Antonius Subianto Bunjamin of Bandung, the newly ordained priest was assigned to St. Mary Parish Church in Cirebon for his first pastoral ministry.
His story now adds another chapter to the little-known history of Indonesian clergy and religious with medical backgrounds. For Fr. Yandis, the journey from physician to priest reflects two vocations rooted in the same mission: caring for human life.
