By UCA News reporter
KOTA KINABALU – A Malaysian archdiocese has trained a group of lay volunteers to run an international program to encourage lapsed Catholics to return to the Church.
The Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu trained 28 volunteers to run Landings International’s lay ministry, which began in the US in 1989 and is designed to help inactive Catholics rejoin the Church.
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA) reported on Nov 5 that the training was conducted at the Sacred Heart Cathedral.
The 10-week Landings program invites all Catholic parishes and communities to reach out to Catholics who have been away from the Church or are struggling in their relationship with God and the Church.
Most participants agreed to start the Landings program in their areas in Jan 2025, RVA reported.
The Landings initiative aims to create a welcoming environment for returning Catholics by providing spiritual and emotional support in a non-judgmental setting.
Archbishop John Wong of Kota Kinabalu and Father Paul Lo, the cathedral rector, attended the closing day of the training program.
Archbishop Wong acknowledged the dedication of both trainers and volunteers and expressed his joy at “witnessing the effort to reach out to the wider Catholic community.”
The trainers came from the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur and included some experts who started the Landings ministry in Singapore in 2008.
The Kota Kinabalu Archdiocese, in Malaysia’s Sabah state, along with Sarawak, is home to most Christians in Muslim-majority Malaysia.
According to the latest national 2020 census, Christians form 6.1 percent (around 2.1 million) of Malaysia’s population, which is estimated to be some 34.2 million now.
Two-thirds of the country’s Christian population (around 1.4 million) live in the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak. – UCA News
