By Richard Chia/Executive Secretary CBCMSB
PLENTONG – This year’s 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope saw a gathering of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei (CBCMSB) at Majodi Centre in Plentong, Johor together with a gathering of the seminary formators, rectors and spiritual directors, and the Conference of Religious Major Superiors (CRMS), each having their respective meetings. This was a great opportunity for everyone to fellowship and chat during their meals together.
The bishops reviewed the year that had passed, notably two significant events for CBCMSB. First was the historic Papal visit to Singapore in Sep 2024. It was pointed out that the last papal visit by Pope John Paul II was in 1986, 38 years ago. Cardinal William Goh, the Archbishop of Singapore described “the entire visit as successful and is a one-of-a-kind visit well received by everyone, and brought everyone together”.
The second momentous event was the participation of Archbishop Julian Leow, President of CBCMSB and Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur, in the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops gathering in Rome for almost one month in Oct 2024. This Second Assembly of the Synod on Synodality, attended by 450 participants in total, was the culmination of the three years (2021-2024) process of listening and dialogue beginning with a solemn opening in Rome on Oct 2021.
Archbishop Julian highlighted the spirit of synodality that was prevalent throughout the assembly. He described the “conversation in the spirit” and listening process was strictly adhered to, providing every participant sufficient time to share and speak. In particular, he highlighted the ecumenical vigil service held, attended by different Christian denominations and the eastern church, praying for unity. Masses were also held in Aramaic, Arabic and ancient languages. On one evening, a documentary movie of a Korean priest on mission to South Sudan was shown, where almost everyone was in tears after watching the plight of the people in Sudan.
Each bishop also shared on their diocesan plans for this year’s Jubilee Year, Pilgrims of Hope. Every diocese in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei has announced their respective jubilee pilgrimage centres where the faithful are encouraged to visit during this Jubilee year.
Another notable highlight of this plenary meeting was the visit by Alwin D Macalalad, the Regional Coordinator of Pacific Asia & Oceania, within the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development (DPIHD) in Rome. CBCMSB had been in communication with Alwin since April 2024, and he had indicated he will be in the region end 2024.
During his visit, he presented to the bishops role, objective and structure of DPIHD, and reiterated the Dicastery’s function of serving the Church in the world, for the development of each person and the whole person, especially in the areas of economy, ecology, health, security and people (migrants and refugees).
Before his meeting with the bishops, Alwin had separate meetings with the coordinator of Caritas Malaysia, Fr Fabian Dicom, the Chairperson of the Episcopal Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerants (ECMI), Dionysius Richard Ellai and the Regional Director for the Episcopal Commission for Creation Justice (ECCJ), Clare Westwood. Overall, the visit by Alwin was successful, as he was also invited to present the Dicastery to the CRMS, and met many of the seminary formators as well.
During the bishops’ joint meeting with the Conference of Religious Major Superiors, the bishops were informed of the new executive committee of the CRMS elected for 2025-2027. They thanked the outgoing team led by Franciscan Friar Derrick Yap, and welcomed the incoming president Fr Francis Lim, SJ. The key highlights of the joint meeting was the discussion on safeguarding policies and protocols on the protection of minors, and the eldercare of our clergy and religious who are aging and need nursing care.
At the session with the seminary rectors and formators, a draft copy of the Malaysian Seminary Charter was presented. A healthy discussion was held, with some minor amendments, after which all the Malaysian bishops approved and signed the Charter.
On the third day, members of the Catholic Health Care Asia (CHCA) also came to update the bishops of their development since their last visit in 2020. Sr Jane Bertelsen, FMDM, the founder of CHCA, Sr Helena McEvilly, FMDM, Wendy Louis, the Chairperson of CHCA and Daphne Leong, Mission Formation Director presented their current structure, their canonical stewards and their mission integration efforts.
Members of the Institute of New Evangelisation (INE), Michael Xavier and Alex Choong, presented via online, their update report from their inception in 2021 until 2024. Their quick glance report highlighted many Parish Leaders Transformation Training, the many online courses conducted during the Covid-19 pandemic period and the many efforts completed in 2023 and 2024. Moving forward, the aim for INE is to increase representation from Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Melaka-Johor dioceses, and to work closely with Sabah and Sarawak Dioceses for cross-collaboration, by engaging past graduates of INE to share testimonies and transform into speakers.
The plenary meeting ended in a highly spirited note, where all the bishops in Malaysia were subjected to a singing lesson, to sing the “Bangkitlah – SALIB MALAYSIA” theme song, in preparation for the Perjalanan Salib Malaysia, a nation-wide youth initiative scheduled to be launched in Apr 2025, during the Malaysian Catholic Young Peoples’ Assembly (MCYPA) in Kota Kinabalu.
This event is projected to bring together more than 1,500 young people from all the nine dioceses in Malaysia for seven days, six nights in Kota Kinabalu, packed with exciting agenda, some of which involves the active participation of the bishops. The MCYPA will certainly give all these young people a great opportunity to be up-close and personal with the bishops in Malaysia.
