The Roman Catholic Diocese of Sibu ( la, Dioecesis Sibuensis) is the ecclesiastical territory of the

Latin Church , native_name_lang = la , image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran , caption = Archbasilica of Saint Jo ...

or the

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associ ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

in the state of

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a 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 Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

. It is headquartered in

Sibu Sibu (; Hokchew Romanized: ''Sĭ-bŭ'') is a landlocked city in the central region of Sarawak. It is the capital of Sibu District in Sibu Division, Sarawak, Malaysia. The city is located on the island of Borneo and covers an area of . It i ...

and covered the divisions of

Mukah 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. The district also covers an area of with a population about 49,900 in the Muka ...

Sarikei Sarikei is a town, and the capital of Sarikei District (985 square kilometres) 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 (year 201 ...

, and

Kapit Kapit is a town and the capital of Kapit District in Kapit Division, Sarawak, Malaysia on the south bank of the Rajang River. The district comprises 15,595.6 square kilometres and as of 2020 has a population of 65,800. Kapit is accessible by ...

. Erected in 1986 by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

and first led by Dominic Su Haw Chiu, this diocese is a

suffragan diocese A suffragan diocese is one of the dioceses other than the metropolitan archdiocese that constitute an ecclesiastical province. It exists in some Christian denominations, in particular the Catholic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandri ...

in the ecclesiastical province of the

metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

Archdiocese 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 ...

. The diocesan

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations ...

is the Sacred Heart Cathedral in

. The current Bishop of Sibu is

Joseph Hii Teck Kwong Joseph Hii Teck Kwong (born 25 June 1965) 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. Biogra ...

, having been installed in 2012.

History

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 Batu Lintang camp (also known as Lintang Barracks and Kuching POW camp) at Kuching, Sarawak on the island of Borneo was a Japanese internment camp during the Second World War. It was unusual in that it housed both Allied prisoners of war (POWs) ...

, 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 (I persevere and I achieve) , national_anthem = , capital = Kudat (1881–1884);Sandakan (1884–1945);Jesselton (1946) , common_languages = English, Kadazan-Dusun, Bajau, Murut, Sabah Malay, Chinese etc. , ...

(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 The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Way of Sorrows or the Via Crucis, refers to a series of images depicting Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and accompanying prayers. The station ...

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 Melanau or ''A-Likou'' (meaning River people in Mukah dialect) is an ethnic group indigenous to Sarawak, Malaysia. They are among the earliest settlers of Sarawak. They speak in the Melanau language, which is a part of the North Bornean branc ...

to be ordained priest at the old Sts. Peter and Paul Church in

. 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:

Bishops of the Diocese of Sibu

# Dominic Su Haw Chiu (1987–2011) #

(2012–present)

Former auxiliary bishop

* Joseph Hii Teck Kwong (2008–2012), appointed Bishop of this diocese

Parishes

History

Bishops

Bishops of the Diocese of Sibu

Former auxiliary bishop

Parishes

References

See also