By Alfredo di Napoli – Ruggiero Doronzo
ROME – On June 28, 2023, Claudius Frederick, originally from Kaiduan (Papar, Sabah), graduated in Religious Sciences from the High School of Religious Sciences in Bari (Italy) with a thesis entitled: Catholicism in Malaysia. Genesis, Development and Future Perspectives. His advisor was Professor Alfredo di Napoli, and his co-advisor was Professor Ruggiero Doronzo.
The key aspects of the thesis are: the participation of Malaysian bishops in the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council (Vendargon, Buis, Galvin, Vos, Chan and Olçomendy); the characters, the pastoral action, the legacy and the historical analysis of the reception of the council in Malaysian dioceses. Furthermore, a brief account of the diocesan institutions in Malaysia is presented and provide biographical notes of important personalities who have contributed to the realization of religious projects for the improvement of faith. A significant space is dedicated to Archbishop John Wong Soo Kau, Metropolitan Archbishop of Kota Kinabalu, to describe his pastoral action in recent years in line with the conciliar reforms.
Before describing the contribution of the Malaysian prelates and the activities carried out at Vatican II, deduced mainly from the acts and documents of the Council and from the Acta Synodalia, and the lines of reform established in the dioceses and vicariates to which they belong, the author gives: a brief outline of the articulated and complex structure of the Malaysian dioceses, for a better knowledge of the territory; of the prominent ecclesiastical personalities who have left an indelible mark of their passage; of some still current problems, which have had great resonance worldwide.
The thesis was appreciated by the Degree Committee for its originality and the scholarly nature of its presentation of Vatican historical documents. For these reasons, the section on the participation of Malaysian bishops in the Council was published in the journal of the Archiepiscopal Library of Brindisi (Italy) “Parola e Storia” (36/2024, pp. 161-196).
The full link of the thesis can be accessed through this link: thesis by Claudius Frederick
