Some of the 36 participants of the online briefing for Parish Pastoral Council of SHC and sub-parishes, Sep 25
By Catherine Wan
Sep 30 2021
KOTA KINABALU – In preparation for the upcoming Pan Malaysia Pastoral Convention (PMPC) in 2026, parish priest of Sacred Heart Cathedral Parish (SHCP), Fr Paul Lo invited pastoral councilors from SHCP and the sub-parishes of Church of Mary Immaculate (CMI), St Paul Dontozidon, Queen of Peace Kobusak, and St John Kopungit to attend an online briefing on the journey towards PMPC 2026 Sep 25.
The briefing was given by Anthony Lim, who represents Sabah in the PMPC central working committee, as well as helping to form PMPC committees at parish level. Thirty-six participants joined the briefing and discussion via ZOOM platform.
KK prelate Archbishop John Wong, informed the meeting participants that at the Archdiocesan level, Lim had given an online briefing to the clergy, parish councilors and Commissions representatives Aug 6. He commended Fr Paul for his efforts to set up the parish and sub-parishes PMPC committees.
Lim pointed out that the journey towards PMPC 2026 is a process of building a united Malaysian Church having one mind and heart to journey together as a Church in mission.
He started his briefing with a timeline of historical development of the Catholic Church in Peninsular Malaysia, beginning in 1976 with the formation of the Basic Ecclesial Communities (BEC) and interreligious dialogue to name a few.
In 1986, the first Peninsular Malaysia Pastoral Council (PMPC-1) with pastoral focus on the Youth was organized. Ten years later in 1996, PMPC-2 was organized, focusing on the family and Social Communications. In 2006, PMPC-3 was held to affirm and strengthen the needs and concerns of the Peninsular Church.
However, in 2016 the Bishops in Peninsular invited he first time the bishops from Sabah and Sarawak to join them in the PMPC-4, realizing that the church must be inclusive. Thus, the PMPC term is changed from Peninsular Malaysia Pastoral Council to Pan Malaysia Pastoral Convention (PMPC) to reflect this. It is expected that a congregation of 1000 Catholics (clergy, religious and laity) from nine dioceses throughout Malaysia will gather in Majodi Centre for PMPC 2026.
Next, Lim provided a quick glimpse of the Sabah Church history by citing important milestones in the faith journey of the local church: In 1957 the establishment of the first Catholic Mission in Labuan by Don Carlos Cuarteron, in May 1977 the Kota Kinabalu Vicariate was raised to become the Diocese of Kota Kinabalu, In 1981 the Diocese of Kota Kinabalu celebrated 100 years of Good News based on the arrival of the Mill Hill Missionary (1881), in 1997 the launching of the Diocesan Pastoral Plan and Diocesan Vision and Mission, in 2002 the Silver Jubilee of the KK Diocese, in 2008 the KK Diocese was raised to Metropolitan See, in October 2015 the Pax Assembly identifying the three critical concerns of the Church as well as the three movements of Pastoral Thrusts, in June 2018 the PAX Assembly in Bundu Tuhan, in July 2018 the Sabah Clergy attended the First Assembly of Malaysian Catholic Clergy Assembly in Majodi, Johor Bahru.
The vision of Malaysia Catholic Church is to come together as clergy, religious and laity to celebrate the beauty and uniqueness of cultures in the different regions, to listen to pastoral progress and initiatives in the various regions, and to walk in the Light of the Lord (Isaiah 2:2-5), focusing on responding to challenges affecting the Church, Family, Society and Ecology.
There are four aspects of the church in fulfilling the Mission as Malaysian, namely a) the Church as the voice of the people; b) the Church communicating the fullness of life; c) the church reaching out in mercy, and d) the church growing in holiness and the church communicating the fullness of life.
It is recommended that church leaders to refer to the four documents that Pope Francis has issued in his papacy. For example, issues concerning the Church, refer to Evangelii Gaudium; issues on family, refer to Amoris Laetitia; ecology to Laudato Si and Social issues to Fratelli Tutti. All the four areas should be taken as a whole as they are interconnected with each other and affecting each other either positively or negatively.
For the Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu, some scheduled events journeying towards PMPC 2026 will be:
2021 – PMPC Briefing on 7th August 2021
2022 – Religious Assembly
2022-2023 – Parish Pastoral Assembly (PPA); its guideline is to be provided by
Archdiocesan PMPC committee
2024 – Archdiocesan Pastoral Assembly
2025 – Malaysian Catholic Youth Assembly & Sabah/Regional Pastoral Assembly
2026 – PMPC at Majodi on 16th September
For SHC, the councilors are to study and reflect on the four documents written by Pope Francis. Meanwhile, suitable parishioners are to be identified to form the Parish PMPC Committee by 30 October 2021.
During the discussion or the Q&A session, Fr Paul suggested the PPC chairpersons of SHC, CMI and the sub-parishes to form a team of 12 members for the Parish PMPC Committee with some committed parishioners other than the selected members of PPC councilors. The Chinese speaking parishioners will be included other than the English and BM speaking parishioners. The youth and women representatives were also suggested to be included as well.
At the end of the discussion, Archbishop Wong expressed his joy in accompanying the councilors towards the formation of the parish PMPC and concluded with his blessing.
