Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur

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Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur

Archidioecesis Kuala Lumpurensis

Keuskupan Agung Kuala Lumpur
St. John's Cathedral, Kuala Lumpur.jpg
St. John's Cathedral
Location
CountryMalaysia
Territory Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang and Terengganu
Ecclesiastical province Kuala Lumpur
Coordinates 3°09′04″N101°42′03″E / 3.15109530°N 101.70093080°E / 3.15109530; 101.70093080
Statistics
Area63,763 km2 (24,619 sq mi)
Population
  • Total
  • Catholics
  • (as of 2019)
  • 12,390,830
  • 264,840 [1]  (2.1%)
Parishes35 [1]
Information
Denomination Catholic Church
Rite Roman Rite
EstablishedFebruary 25, 1955;70 years ago (1955-02-25)
Cathedral St. John's Cathedral
Patron saint John the Evangelist
Secular priests 61 [2]
Current leadership
Pope Sede vacante
Metropolitan Archbishop Julian Leow Beng Kim
Suffragans Diocese of Penang
Diocese of Malacca-Johor
Vicar GeneralMsgr, Stanislaus Soosaimariam
Msgr Patrick Boudville, Chancellor: Rev Fr. Dr. Clarence Devadass
Bishops emeritus Murphy Pakiam
Website
www.archkl.org
Coat of arms of Julian Leow Beng Kim Coat of arms of Julian Leow Beng Kim.svg
Coat of arms of Julian Leow Beng Kim

The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur (Latin : Archidioecesis Kuala Lumpurensis) is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Malaysia. It was erected as the Diocese of Kuala Lumpur by Pope Pius XII on 25 February 1955, and was elevated to the rank of a Metropolitan Archdiocese on 18 December 1972, with the suffragan sees of Malacca-Johor and Penang. It also administers the capital city of Malaysia, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur as well as the federal administrative centre of Putrajaya and the urbanised states of Selangor and Negeri Sembilan in the central region as well as Pahang and Terengganu on the East Coast. The archdiocese's Mother Church and thus, seat of its Archbishop, is St. John's Cathedral. It is one of the three Roman Catholic archdioceses in Malaysia, with the ecclesiastical archdioceses of Kota Kinabalu and Kuching, both at the Borneo Islands.

Contents

History

In 1786, the first church was established in Penang. [3] This led to the formation of Vicariate of Siam and Kedah, which expanded towards the entire Malayan Peninsula and Singapore.[ citation needed ] The Vicariate of Malaya was formed in 1841. The Church of Visitation was founded in 1848 in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan. This is the first known church to be erected in central Malaya. A historical moment was made in 1888, when the Diocese of Malacca was formed. The first church in Kuala Lumpur was dedicated to St John the evangelist in 1883, and would be later known as St. John's Cathedral, the Mother Church of Kuala Lumpur. [4]

In 1955, the Diocese of Malacca became a Metropolitan Archdiocese, with the newly formed Diocese of Penang and Diocese of Kuala Lumpur as its suffragan sees.[ citation needed ] Bishop Dominic Vendargon was appointed as the first Bishop of Kuala Lumpur, and was ordained in the same year. In 1972, the Diocese of Kuala Lumpur was elevated into an Archdiocese, with the suffragan dioceses of Penang and Malacca-Johor.

In 1983, Archbishop Dominic Vendargon retired. Bishop Anthony Soter Fernandez of Penang was appointed as the 2nd Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur. When he retired in 2003, he was succeeded by Archbishop Murphy Pakiam who was then the Auxiliary Bishop.[ citation needed ] On 3 July 2014, the Vatican appointed Most Rev Julian Leow as the 4th Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur, after the resignation of Archbishop Emeritus Murphy Pakiam was accepted by Pope Francis in December 2013. This ending the 59 years of the ethnic Indian domination of the diocese's hierarchy with the election of Leow, an ethnic Chinese. [5] [6] During the consistory on 19 November 2016, Pope Francis installed Archbishop Emeritus Anthony Soter Fernandez as a cardinal, making him the first bishop from Malaysia to be appointed. [7]

Statistical summary

Below are statistics of the archdiocese. [8]

Bishops

The following are the lists of ordinaries (bishops of the diocese) and auxiliary bishops, and their terms of service. [9]

Bishop of Kuala Lumpur

  1. Dominic Aloysius Vendargon (1955–1972), elevated to Archbishop

Archbishops of Kuala Lumpur

  1. Dominic Aloysius Vendargon (1972–1983)
  2. Anthony Soter Fernandez (1983–2003)
  3. Murphy Nicholas Xavier Pakiam (2003–2013)
  4. Julian Leow Beng Kim (2014–present)

Former Auxiliary Bishops of Kuala Lumpur

Awards and recognition

See also

References

  1. 1 2 www.catholic-hierarchy.org | Statistics - Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur
  2. ↑ "Directory". Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur.
  3. ↑ "Kopen Stromectol Online zonder Recept - tegen Covid-19". Archived from the original on 28 February 2017.
  4. ↑ "Original Catholic Encyclopedia:Diocese of Malacca". 21 May 2015. Archived from the original on 20 May 2015. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
  5. ↑ "Pope Francis accepts resignation of Archbishop Murphy Pakiam of Kuala Lumpur". 21 May 2015. Retrieved 21 May 2015.[ permanent dead link ]
  6. ↑ "Pope appoints Chinese Malaysian priest as new Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur". 21 May 2015. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
  7. ↑ "Pope installs 17 cardinals, including Malaysia's Anthony Soter Fernandez". 20 November 2016. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  8. ↑ "General Info". Archived from the original on 31 December 2018.
  9. ↑ "Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 🇲🇾".
  10. ↑ "AWARD WINNERS". 2016. Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
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