Roman Catholic Diocese of Sibu

Diocese of Sibu

*Diœcesis Sibuensis*

Keuskupan Sibu
诗巫教区
Diocese of Sibu; Diœcesis Sibuensis; Keuskupan Sibu; 诗巫教区
	Sacred Heart Cathedral
	Coat of arms
Location
Country	Malaysia
Ecclesiastical province	Kuching
Metropolitan	Kuching
Statistics
Area	41,484 km2 (16,017 sq mi)
Population Total; Catholics;	(as of 2020); 886,565; 129,000 (14.6%);
Parishes	12
Information
Denomination	Catholic
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	22 December 1986
Cathedral	Sacred Heart Cathedral
Patron saint	Sacred Heart of Jesus; Saint Joseph
Language	Ecclesiastical Latin; English language; Cantonese language; Hakka language; Foochow language; Iban language; Mandarin language; Melanau language; Malay language;
Current leadership
Pope	Leo XIV
Bishop	Joseph Hii Teck Kwong
Metropolitan Archbishop	Simon Peter Poh Hoon Seng
Vicar General	Michael Lee Hock Chai
Episcopal Vicars	Paul Chee Haw Pau
Bishops emeritus	Dominic Su Haw Chiu
Map
	; The diocese map
Website
	catholic.my/dioceseofsibu

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Sibu (Latin: Dioecesis Sibuensis; Malay: Keuskupan Sibu; Mandarin: 诗巫教区) is the ecclesiastical territory of the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church in the state of Sarawak, Malaysia, covering areas from Sarikei to Mukah.

Erected in 1986 by Pope John Paul II and first led by Dominic Su Haw Chiu, this diocese is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Kuching. The diocesan cathedral is the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Sibu. The Sacred Heart of Jesus and Saint Joseph are the principal patrons of the diocese.

Since 12 February 2012, Joseph Hii Teck Kwong has been the bishop of Sibu.^[2]

History

The Sibu Catholic Mission started in 1899 when Fr. Cornelius Keet MHM, a Mill Hill priest from the Netherlands, 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 MHM 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 MHM. 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, Sabah in 1908.

Fr. William van Odijk MHM 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 at the age of 55.

Fr John Vos MHM 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 MHM in 1938. As the Sacred Heart School grew, priests like Fr. Thomas Delaney MHM (1933–1937), Fr. William Wagenaar MHM (1935–1938), Fr. Gerard Bruggeman MHM (1937–1940), Fr. Francis Hulsbosch MHM (1938–1939), and Fr. John Dekker MHM (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. He was caught twice 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 from 1967 to 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 MHM 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 to 1950. During those years, Frs. Clement Epping MHM and Charles Reiterer MHM arrived at Sibu to perform pastoral and educational work.

Fr. Adrian de Vos MHM 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. The school continues to run under them until the appointment of the first local principal, Samuel Tan, in 1987.

Frs. Thomas Taam and Anthony Lam, Chinese missionaries who escaping communist warfare in mainland China, arrives at Sibu to began their pastoral mission in the 1940s and 1950s, and subsequently obtained Malaysian citizenship upon Malaysia's creation in 1963. The Su brothers, Dominic, Francis, and Philip were ordained simultaneously in the 1960s. They were later followed by Frs. Peter Ng, Michael Lee, and James Ting the following year.

On 22 December 1986, Pope John Paul II erected the Diocese of Sibu, as a suffragan see of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Kuching. Fr. Dominic Su was ordained by Pope John Paul II as bishop of Sibu on 6 January 1987 at St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City. ^[3] Fr. David Bingham MHM, a Briton, 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 MHM, a Dutchman, 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. He and Fathers Bingham, Thomas O'Connor MHM of Ireland and Ferdinand Vergeer MHM of the Netherlands became first foreign priests served under newly created diocese and they all are Mill Hill priests.

Basic Ecclesial Communities (BEC) was established in Sibu on 27 July 1987 and were divided into 5 zones. On 28 May 1991, deacon Joseph Sebastian of Kampung Tellian became the first Melanau to be ordained priest at the old Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Mukah, and second from the town, following Fr. Lawrence Chua. In 1993, three priests were ordained at the same time by bishop Su. They were Frs. Joseph Hii, Andrew Tan, and Alphonsus Tang. They were later followed by Frs. Paul Chee in 1996, and Paul Ling in 1997.

In 2008, Pope Benedict XVI accepts Su's resignation due to age and health problems, and appointed Fr. Joseph Hii as Auxiliary Bishop of Sibu.^[4] By the time, the last priests ordained by Su were Frs. Simon Lau, Fabian Kong and Philip Hu. Fr. Hii was ordained in May 2008 and installed as bishop of Sibu in February 2012. At the same year, Fr. Mark Aloysius SJ, a Jesuit, became the first priest to be ordained by the new bishop at St. Mary's Church.^[5] The first African to serve the diocese was Fr. Matthews Olili MHM, a Kenyan, in 2011.^[6]

Bishops

The seat of the bishop is at Sacred Heart Cathedral. These are the lists of the bishops and auxiliary bishop of the diocese and their years of service:

No.	Portrait	Name	From	Until
1		Dominic Su Haw Chiu (born 1939)	6 January 1987	24 December 2011 (Resigned)
2		Joseph Hii Teck Kwong (born 1965)	12 February 2012	present

Auxiliary Bishop

Joseph Hii Teck Kwong (2008–2012), appointed Bishop of Sibu in 2012

Parishes

Sacred Heart Cathedral, Jln. Lanang, Sibu
- Rector(s): Rev. Philip Hu Siew Huat
- Assistant(s): Rev. Francis Go, OFM Cap (outstationed from the Diocese of Melaka-Johor), Rev. Raphael Samosir, OFM Cap and Rev. Edward Raymond Misius (outstationed from Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu)
  - sub-parishes of St. Dominic's Church, Teku, Sibu
  - St. Michael's Church, Sibu Jaya, Sibu
  - St. James' Church, Mile 11, Sibu-Bintulu Road, Sibu
  - St. Anthony's Church, Oya Camp, Sibu
  - St. Joseph's Church, Durin, Sibu
  - St. Anne's Church, Paradom/Tg. Kunyit, Sibu
  - Mary Immaculate Church, Sg. Sadit/Nam Ping Chiong Estate, Sibu
  - St. Peter's Church, Bukit Lan, Bawang Assan, Sibu
  - St. Joseph's Mission Animation Centre, Sentosa, Sibu and
  - Sukun Catholic Centre, Lanang, Sibu
St. Mary's of the Divine Mercy Parish, Jln. Awang Ramli Amit, Sibu
- Rector(s): Rev. Paul Chee Haw Pau (Vicar General Emeritus)
- Assistant(s): Rev. Edward Raymond Misius (outstationed from Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu) and Rev. Richard Lau See Nguong
St. Teresa's Parish, Sg. Merah, Sibu
- Rector(s): Msgr. Michael Lee Hock Chai (Vicar General)
- Assistant(s): Rev. David Lau
  - sub-parish of St. Teresa's Oratory, Sg. Merah, Sibu
Sts. Peter and Paul's Parish, Mukah
- Rector: Rev. Joseph Sebastian
  - sub-parishes of St. Anthony's Church, Telian, Mukah
  - St. Mary's Church, Balingian, Mukah
  - Our Lady of Fatima Church, Teh Labak, Mukah
  - St. Francis Xavier's Church, Sau, Mukah
  - Sacred Heart Church, Jebungan/Tegak, Mukah
  - St. Joseph's Church, Sesok, Mukah
  - St. Jude's Church, Petanak, Mukah and
  - St. Thomas' Church, Teh/Tabo, Mukah
St. Bernard's Parish, Dalat
- Rector(s): Rev. Andrew Tan
- Assistant(s): Rev. Johanaz Ling
  - sub-parishes of St. Peter's Church, Medong, Dalat
  - Our Lady of Fatima Church, Ud, Dalat
  - St. Francis Xavier's Church, Bungan Kecil, Dalat
  - St. Victoria's Church, Bungan Besar, Dalat
  - St. Nicholas' Church, Kut, Dalat
  - St. James' Church, Kekan, Dalat
  - St. John the Baptist's Church, Klid, Dalat
  - St. Theresa's Church, Kebuaw Hilir, Dalat and
  - St. Plechelmus' Church, Tanam, Dalat
St. Charles Borromeo's Parish, Selangau
- Rector(s): Rev. Michael Mandagiri, MHM (Mill Hill missionary from India)
  - Sub-parishes of the Church of Mother Mary of Eucharist, Tamin and
  - St. Gerard's Church, Sekuau
    Christ the King Church, Bintangor
Christ the King Parish, Bintangor
- Rector(s) : Rev. Fabian Kong
St. Francis Xavier's Parish, Kanowit
- Rector(s): Rev. George Omuto, MHM (Mill Hill missionary from Kenya)
- Assistant(s): Rev. Ravi Pulagam, MHM (Mill Hill missionary from India)
  - sub-parishes of St. Andrian Church, Nanga Tada, Kanowit
  - St. Mary Church, Nanga Jagoi, Kanowit
  - St. Theresa Church, Nanga Lipus, Kanowit
  - Sacred Heart Church, Bawan, Kanowit
  - St. Leo Church, Nanga Ngungun, Kanowit
  - St. Gerald Church, Nanga Jagau, Kanowit and
  - St. Sebastian Church, Machan, Kanowit
St. Herbert's Parish, Song
- Rector(s): Rev. David Ho
St. Alphonsus' Parish, Julau
- Rector(s): Rev. Alphonsus Tang
- Assistant(s): Rev. Michael (Miguel) Gemanga, MHM (Mill Hill missionary from the Philippines)
  - sub-parish of St. Patrick, Entabai, Julau
Mary Immaculate Conception Parish, Kapit
- Rector(s): Rev. Forbi Blaise, MHM (Mill Hill missionary from Cameroon)
  St. Anthony's Church, Sarikei
St. Anthony's Parish, Sarikei
- Rector(s): Rev. Simon Lau
- Assistant(s): Rev. James Ting Siong Hung
  - sub-parishes of St. Francis of Assisi, Pakan, Sarikei
  - St. Matthew the Apostle, Engkamop, Sarikei
  - St. Mary Magdalene, Dayu, Sarikei
  - St. Patrick, Beruru, Sarikei
  - St. Joseph, Ulu Kota, Sarikei and
  - St. Andrew, Sare, Sarikei