Simon Peter Poh Hoon Seng (born 15 April 1963) is a Malaysian

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

of the

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who has been serving as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Kuching since 2017. He served as an auxiliary bishop of the same archdiocese from 2015 to 2017.

Early life and education

Simon Peter Poh Hoon Seng was born on 15 April 1963, in Sri Aman,

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the M ...

, to Joseph Poh and Geraldine Poh. The oldest child in the family, he has two sisters, Irene and Doreen, and two brothers, Raymond and Norman. From 1970 to 1975, Poh attended St. Joseph's primary school. He then continued his studies at St. Joseph's Secondary School from 1976 to 1982. He and his family converted to

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

between the years 1979 and 1980. After becoming a Catholic, Poh joined the school's club, Young Christian Students, the Legion of Mary, and St. Joseph's Cathedral's altar servers.

Ordination and ministry

The parish priest of the church Poh attended at the time, Fr. Josef Wassermann, greatly inspired him due to his commitment and dedication. In 1982, Poh decided to enter the seminary at St. Peter's College Major Seminary,

Kuching Kuching (), officially the City of Kuching, is the capital and the most populous city in the States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Sarawak in Malaysia. It is also the capital of Kuching Division. The city is on the Sarawak River ...

. During his years as a seminarian, he learnt to master and speak few languages of natives such as

Bidayuh Bidayuh is the collective name for several indigenous groups found in southern Sarawak, Malaysia and northern West Kalimantan, Indonesia, on the island of Borneo, which are broadly similar in language and culture (see also #Language issues, is ...

, and

Iban IBAN or Iban or Ibán may refer to: Banking * International Bank Account Number Ethnology * Iban culture * Iban language * Iban people Given name Cycling * Iban Iriondo (born 1984) * Iban Mayo (born 1977) * Iban Mayoz (born 1981) Football * ...

. At the age of 25, Poh was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

to the priesthood by Archbishop

Peter Chung Hoan Ting Peter Chung Hoan Ting (born 10 September 1928) was the metropolitan archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kuching, Malaysia from 1976 to 2003, the first archbishop of the diocese. Chung entered the diocesan minor seminary of the Dio ...

on 31 July 1988. In 1996, Poh obtained a Licentiate in Missiology from the

Pontifical Urbaniana University The Pontifical Urban University, also called the ''Urbaniana'' after its names in both Latin and Italian,; it, Pontificia Università Urbaniana. is a pontifical university under the authority of the Congregation for the Evangelization of People ...

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. He returned back to

and served as parish rector for four years at St. Ann's Church, Kota Padawan. Poh then became the director of the Commission for Vocations and also served as Spiritual Director of the Commission for Youth. Poh also worked as Chancellor of the archdiocese, Member of the College of Consultors, Professor of Missiology, and Spiritual Director of St. Peter's College Major Seminary. Besides serving as assistant parish rector of

St. Joseph's Cathedral, Kuching , native_name_lang = , image = St Joseph Cathedral Kuching.jpg , imagesize = 250px , imagelink = , imagealt = , caption = , pushpin map = , pushpin label position = , pushpin map alt = , pushpin mapsize = , relief = , map capti ...

, he also coordinated the archdiocesan commission on mission and evangelisation. In 2001, he studied Mandarin at

Fu Jen Catholic University Fu Jen Catholic University (FJU, FJCU or Fu Jen; or ) is a private Catholic university in Xinzhuang, New Taipei City, Taiwan. The university was founded in 1925 in Beijing at the request of Pope Pius XI and re-established in Taiwan in 1961 at ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. Poh was officially appointed parish rector of the cathedral in 2012. In 2015, he earned a Doctorate in Ministry from the

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. Poh has spent much of his priesthood guiding members of the Church through the youth ministry. He has spent nearly 20 years ministering to youths and is passionate about youth ministry.

Episcopal ministry

Auxiliary bishop of Kuching

On 9 July 2015,

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

appointed Poh as auxiliary bishop of Kuching and

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

Sfasferia {{more footnotes, date=July 2017 Sfasferia is a former ancient city and bishopric in Roman North Africa. History Sfasferia was one of many cities, important enough in the Roman province of Mauretania Caesariensis, in the papal sway, to become ...

. He received his

episcopal consecration A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or offic ...

on 24 September 2015 from Archbishop

John Ha Tiong Hock Dato John Ha Tiong Hock (born 5 March 1947) is a Malaysian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the Archbishop of Kuching, from 2003 to 2017. Previously, he served as an auxiliary bishop of the same archdiocese from 1998 to 200 ...

with Archbishop

and Bishop Julius Dusin Gitom, serving as

co-consecrators A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches, ...

Archbishop of Kuching

On 5 March 2017, Poh was appointed

Archbishop of Kuching The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kuching ( la, Archidioecesis Kuchingensis) is a Metropolitan Latin archbishopric of the Roman Catholic Church in Sarawak, a Malaysian state on Borneo, however remains dependent on the missionary Roman Congreg ...

to succeed Archbishop

who resigned for early retirement. He took canonical possession of the diocese and was installed on 20 March 2017.

Coat of arms

References

External links

Catholic-Hierarchy.org
*Interview wit
Archbishop Simon Peter Poh Hoon Seng
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poh, Simon Peter Hoon Seng 1963 births 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Malaysia Malaysian people of Hakka descent Malaysian people of Chinese descent Living people Bishops appointed by Pope Francis People from Sarawak Fu Jen Catholic University alumni