Julian Leow Beng Kim | |
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Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei | |
![]() Leow in 2017 | |
Church | Catholic Church |
Archdiocese | Kuala Lumpur |
Appointed | 3 July 2014 |
Installed | 6 October 2014 |
Predecessor | Murphy Pakiam |
Orders | |
Ordination | 20 April 2002 by Anthony Soter Fernandez |
Consecration | 6 October 2014 by John Ha Tiong Hock |
Personal details | |
Born | |
Alma mater | |
Motto | Integrity and Tenderness |
Coat of arms | ![]() |
Styles of Julian Leow Beng Kim | |
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Reference style | His Most Reverend |
Spoken style | Your Most Reverend |
Religious style | Archbishop |
Julian Leow Beng Kim | |
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Traditional Chinese | 廖 炳 堅 |
Hanyu Pinyin | Liào Bǐngjiān |
Jyutping | Liu6 Bing2 Gin1 |
Hokkien POJ | Liāu Péng-kian |
Tâi-lô | Liāu Píng-kian |
Julian Leow Beng Kim (born 3 January 1964) is a Malaysian prelate of the Catholic Church who has been serving as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur since 2014. [1] He also serves as president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Malaysia,Singapore and Brunei.
Julian Leow Beng Kim was born on 3 January 1964 in Seremban,Negeri Sembilan,into an ethnic Malaysian Chinese family of Cantonese descent. He pursued his undergraduate studies in Australia and graduated with a Bachelor of Building from the University of New South Wales,Sydney,in 1989.
Responding to a call to the priesthood,he entered College General in Penang in 1994,where he undertook his ecclesiastical studies until 2001. On 20 April 2002,he was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur by Archbishop Anthony Soter Fernandez (now Cardinal). [2]
Leow furthered his theological education in Rome,obtaining a Licentiate in Church History from the Pontifical Gregorian University. Upon returning to Malaysia,he served at College General as Dean of Studies and Formator from 2009 until his appointment as archbishop. [3]
On 3 July 2014,Pope Francis appointed Leow as the 4th archbishop of Kuala Lumpur. [4] He succeeds Archbishop Emeritus Murphy Pakiam,whose resignation was accepted by the Pope on 13 December 2013 upon the reaching the age limit of 75 according to the Canon Law. [5]
Leow was consecrated and installed archbishop on 6 October 2014,in the presence of the Apostolic Nuncio to Malaysia,Archbishop Joseph Marino at the Church of the Holy Family in Kajang,Selangor. [6] Some 12,000 came from around the country to witness the consecration. [6] His principal consecrator was the Archbishop of Kuching,Most Rev. Dato' John Ha Tiong Hock. His co-consecrators were Archbishop Emeritus Murphy Pakiam and Cardinal Anthony Soter Fernandez.
The motto for Leow's episcopacy is "Integrity and Tenderness". [7]
Controversy erupted on the day of Leow's ordination to the episcopacy regarding the inclusion of a 'tree of all religions' in his episcopal coat of arms. An article published by conservative Roman Catholic news portal Rorate Caeli [8] reported that a local group of Catholic faithful had been deeply scandalized by the symbol,which could be suggestive of the heresy of indifferentism.