The Sibu Catholic Mission started in 1899 when Fr. Cornelius Keet first arrived. A small hut was built for the priest to stay on his travels to Bintangor and Sare (Sarikei). Although it was only a short stay, he managed to convert a few hundred people to the Catholic faith before he was recalled to Kuching.
Fr. Vincent Halder arrived Sibu in 1906. He built the old Sacred Heart Church on stilts which served the Catholic community until 1954. Fr. Halder is described as a most lovable character. He was extremely well liked by his boys and by all the people in Sibu. A new convent school was opened in 1929 and 13 churches were built in the lower Rejang area as the Mission was called. Fr. Halder left for Europe on 1 March 1931 and on his return, he fell ill and died in Singapore on 16 August 1936 at the age of 57. The Catholics from Sibu had his body brought back and he was buried in the mission compound. When his body was exhumed 28 years later to make way for development, it was found to be incorrupt, so he was given a second funeral around Sibu town.
Fr. Keet returned to Sibu and was assisted by Fr. Aloysius Hopfgartner. This was the first push in the Rejang District towards work among the Chinese. Education was of primary concern. Fr. Hopfgartner founded the Sacred Heart School and became its principal until he was transferred to Sandakan in 1908.
Fr. William van Odijk took over from Fr. Halder and the mission continued to flourish, looking also after the Lower Rejang area. Since 1910 Sibu is mentioned as a separate mission. Fr. Odijk died in 1936, aged 55.
Fr John Vos arrived and was mainly involved in school work. His stay in Sibu was short before moving to Kuching. He was succeeded by Fr James Buis in 1938. As the Sacred Heart School grew, priests like Fr. Thomas Delaney (1933–1937), Fr. William Wagenaar (1935–1938), Fr. Gerard Bruggeman (1937–1940), Fr. Francis Hulsbosch (1938–1939), Fr. John Dekker (1940–1942) were assigned to take up teaching posts. Besides school work they were also engaged in pastoral work.
In May 1942, the European priests were interned by the Japanese at Batu Lintang camp, Kuching. Fr. Joseph Chin was the only remaining local priest in the whole of the Rejang region, and had to go underground to carry out his priestly duties. He went house to house offering Mass secretly. Twice he was caught and was flogged and jailed. He was highly esteemed by all who know him. He was the builder of St Mary's church and was its first Priest (1967–1968). He died of cancer in 1969.
The Japanese surrendered in 1945. The interned priests were flown from Kuching to Labuan in September to recuperate for a short time. It was decided that some priests would go to Europe for long leave, others would start to re-open the mission stations. Fr. Buis returned to Sibu. So the mission revived and continued to flourish. Fr. Dekker revived the Sacred Heart School at the end of 1945. In a couple of years the schools and mission were back to a healthy growth. Fr. John Maher came in 1946 and taught for 5 years in Sacred Heart School.
Fr. James Buis was appointed Prefect for North Borneo (now Sabah) on 18 January 1947. Frs. John Dekker and William Wagenaar were appointed acting rectors during 1947-1950. During those years Fr. Clement Epping and Charles Reiterer arrived at Sibu to perform pastoral and educational work.
Fr. Adrian de Vos became the new rector of Sibu Mission in January 1950. He also became the principal of Sacred Heart School which by this time had 600 students. In 1954 the Mill Hill Fathers realised they could not cope with their missionary work and the school as well, so they invited De La Salle Brothers to take over the running of Sacred Heart School. Brother Fridolin became the principal.
Fr. Dominic Su was ordained by Pope John Paul II (now Saint) as Bishop of Sibu on 6 January 1987 in St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican, Rome. Sibu became a new diocese. Fr. David Bingham has worked hard for 14 years mostly in the Selangau area. Selangau mission has undergone a lot of development, not only in buildings but also the stations of the cross on the hill slope. Fr. William Bos served Sibu Mission in looking after the Than Catholics in town, along the Oya and Igan. He served the diocese as Vicar General from 1987. BEC was established in Sibu on 27 July 1987. They were divided into 5 zones. On 28 May 1991, deacon Joseph Sebastian of Kampung Tellian become the first Melanau to be ordained priest at the old Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Mukah. In 2008, Pope Benedict XVI (now Pope Emeritus) appointed Fr. Joseph Hii as Auxiliary Bishop of Sibu. He was ordained in May 2008 and installed as bishop of Sibu in February 2012.
Bishops
The lists of the bishops and auxiliary bishop of the diocese and their years of service:
Sibu is a landlocked city located in the central region of Sarawak, Malaysia. It serves as the capital of Sibu District within Sibu Division and is situated on the island of Borneo. Covering an area of 129.5 square kilometres (50.0 sq mi), the city is positioned at the confluence of the Rajang and Igan Rivers, approximately 60 kilometres from the South China Sea and 191.5 kilometres (119 mi) north-east of the state capital, Kuching.
Sarikei is a town, and the capital of Sarikei District in Sarikei Division, Sarawak, Malaysia. It is located on the Rajang River, near where the river empties into the South China Sea. The district population was 56,798.
The Diocese of Sandhurst is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church in Australia. It is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Melbourne. The Diocese of Sandhurst was erected in 1874 and covers the central and north-east regions of Victoria, including Bendigo.
Bintangor is a town, and the capital of the Meradong District in Sarikei Division, of Sarawak, Malaysia. Situated along the Rejang River, Bintangor was an express boat services hub connecting between, Sarikei town and Sibu city in the 1970s up to the early 1990s. As road connections between these towns became a more prominent mode of transport, the waterway of the town died down.
Pakan is a small town in Pakan District, Sarikei Division, Sarawak, Malaysia. The district population estimates was 17,600.
The Diocese of Kuching is a diocese of the Anglican Church of the Province of South East Asia that covers Sarawak and Brunei. Founded in 1962, the see was originally established as the Bishopric of Sarawak linked to the Diocese of Labuan in 1855. The current bishop is the Most Rev'd Danald Jute, 14th Lord Bishop of the Diocese of Kuching and Brunei, who was consecrated on 13 August 2017. His seat is at St. Thomas' Cathedral, Kuching.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kuching is a Metropolitan Latin archbishopric of the Roman Catholic Church in Sarawak, a Malaysian state on Borneo, however remains dependent on the missionary Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Kumbo is a Roman Catholic diocese in the Ecclesiastical Province of Bamenda in Cameroon. The first German settlers were Missionaries of the Sacred Heart who arrived in 1912 and established their mission in 1913. The Diocese of Kumbo was erected by Pope John Paul II on Thursday, 18 March 1982, with territory taken from the then Diocese of Bamenda. It is a suffragan diocese of the Metropolitan See of Bamenda along with the Roman Catholic Dioceses of Buea, Kumba, and Mamfe.
Sacred Heart Cathedral in Sibu, Sarawak is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sibu. It is the seat of the Bishop of Sibu, currently Joseph Hii Teck Kwong.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei (C.B.C.M.S.B.) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic bishops of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.
The Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart, or Sacred Heart Church, is a Roman Catholic church in the seaside resort of Bournemouth, England. Located on Albert Road close to the town centre, it was the first Roman Catholic church built in Bournemouth and is part of the Diocese of Portsmouth. It has been designated a Grade II listed building by English Heritage.
Sacred Heart Church or formally the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a Roman Catholic parish church in Caterham, Surrey, England designed by Ingress Bell and built in 1881. It is situated between Essendene Road and Whyteleafe Road off the High Street. The building is Grade II listed.
Mukah (muːkəh), historically known as Muka is a coastal town which serves as the capital and the administrative center of the Mukah Division since 1 March 2002.
St Joseph's Church is a Roman Catholic Parish church in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. It was built from 1861 to 1862 and designed by Matthew Ellison Hadfield. It is situated on St Petersgate, south west of the High Street. It is the only church in England administered by the Priests of the Sacred Heart and is a Grade II listed building.
Joseph Hii Teck Kwong is a Malaysian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has been serving as bishop of the Diocese of Sibu since 2012. He served as an auxiliary bishop of the same diocese from 2008 to 2012.
Dominic Su Haw Chiu is a Malaysian prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the first bishop of the Diocese of Sibu from 1987 to 2011.
Richard Ng is a Malaysian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has been serving as bishop of the Diocese of Miri since 2014. He was a priest in the Archdiocese of Kuching prior to his appointment as bishop.
Sacred Heart Knanaya Catholic Church located in Maywood, Illinois in the United States is the first Knanaya Catholic Church established outside the juridical boundary of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Archeparchy of Kottayam. This church is also the first church of the Knanaya Region under the St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Chicago. The migrants from the Archdiocese of Kottayam living in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin were members of this parish at the time of its establishment on 24 September 2006. The parishioners were formerly members of the Knanaya Catholic Mission established by the Archdiocese of Chicago since 28 October 1983. Later another church was established in Morton Grove on 18 July 2010 for the parishioners living in the north side of 90 Expressway. The church was elevated as a forane church by Bishop Mar Jacob Angadiath on 22 March 2015. The parish servers around 400 Knanaya Catholic families.
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