By Joseph Masilamany
AS a child, Aemy Soo never imagined becoming a Pauline nun, let alone participating in the congregation’s digital media mission in predominantly Muslim Malaysia.
Growing up in a Chinese family, she followed their Buddhist belief system. At the age of 10, Soo was baptized a Catholic along with her family.
“I felt a strong sense of belonging to Christ from a young age,” the 35-year-old nun told UCA News.
Soo is one of some 15 Daughters of St Paul sisters in Malaysia, all of whom are Malaysian women, a testament to decades of effort.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the congregation’s work in Malaysia, beginning when the first nuns arrived on Mar 19, 1965, from Italy, the Philippines, and Singapore.
Soo said she entertained the idea of becoming a nun as she grew up watching nuns’ work in parish churches and schools. She began contacting several congregations after her senior school.
She joined the Paulines, also known as media nuns, because “they were the first to respond,” Soo said.
Soo is now involved in various projects related to media ministry, including assisting in managing digital media content and participating in the Pauline choir group in Petaling Jaya, a satellite town of the national capital, Kuala Lumpur.
“Evangelizing through media means we’re not just posting content, but shaping how people think and believe,” she said.
She and a team of nuns continue to produce digital content relevant to the global Church, while also addressing local realities.
“We’ve addressed topics like Laudato Si’, environmental stewardship, and Church events here in Malaysia. It’s our way of helping people connect faith with everyday life and current issues,” she added.
Marking 60 years
The congregation arrived in Malaysia eight years after the nation gained independence from Britain in response to an invitation from Archbishop Dominic Aloysius Vendargon of Kuala Lumpur.
The Pauline congregation, founded by Italian Catholic priest Blessed James Alberione in 1915, marked 60 years of existence in Malaysia this March.
Their arrival in Malaysia was also at a time when the teachings of the Second Vatican Council, which concluded in December 1965, had not yet begun to be discussed in churches.
The initial missionary focus was “to evangelise through books, publications, and in later years, with the advent of technology, we also added digital content and social media outreach,” said Sister Anna Yap, the order’s national coordinator.
The pioneering four nuns — Italian Sister Elizabeth Capello, Filipino Sisters Rosa Azurin and Assunta Labay, and Sister Grace Lee from Singapore — started their house in Kuala Lumpur but moved their base to Jalan Gasing in Petaling Jaya in 1968.
In addition to their regular media work, the Pauline nuns are also involved in the pastoral work of three dioceses — the Kuala Lumpur Archdiocese, as well as the Melaka-Johor and Penang Dioceses.
“We are present for all the masses, beginning with Saturday evening, Sunday morning, and Sunday evening,” she said.
“Our bookshop is open for all, and it has become a point of ‘faith inspiring’ for visitors, said Yap, who has been a nun for more than four decades.
Going digital
Pauline nuns have embraced digital innovations by presenting Christian messages through online platforms.
Yap explained that videos, podcasts, and messages are shared through platforms like Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Spotify.
The nuns’ Facebook page has 9,100 followers, X (formerly Twitter) has 276 followers, and their YouTube channel boasts 52,600 subscribers. So far, the nuns have uploaded 8,000 videos to the YouTube channel.
They use the social media site Instagram as an extension of their shop’s e-commerce platform.
The Paulines also conduct media literacy workshops and host book fairs in parishes during the feast days of Catholic saints. “These efforts are part of our mission to form ‘conscience and character’ through media,” Yap explained.
“Beyond these, we provide liturgical aids and manage online outreach. Many of our programs expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic as we moved more fully into digital spaces,” she said.
“God qualifies’
Along with Soo, three more nuns — Joy Ingrid Montes, Laurin Kowal, and Imelda Samuing — renewed their temporary vows for the sixth time on Jun 30, 2024.
Each newly professed nun vows to lead a Christian life committed to obedience, chastity, and poverty for one year. This vow is renewed each year for five to seven years before making the final vow, also called the final profession.
Kowal, 34, who took her first profession along with others in 2019, told UCA News that her decision to join the Paulines faced resistance from her parents, who wanted their youngest child to pursue a career and start a family.
“It took nearly two years of conversations, tears, and prayer before they accepted my decision,” she said.
She sees herself as a media missionary, using words and images to help others encounter Christ. Religious life isn’t always easy, but it is deeply fulfilling, the nun noted.
She said books inspired her to join the Paulines. Recently, she posted “a short reflection on Instagram. A young woman messaged to say it brought her back to prayer. That humbled me,” she noted.
The nun said she was unqualified for the great mission of God. “He doesn’t call the qualified. He qualifies those he calls,” she added.
In the early years, all Pauline nuns were foreigners; however, since the 1990s, the congregation has begun to attract local vocations, Yap said.
Although fewer women generally choose religious life, at least two local women have joined the Paulines in recent years, she said. – UCA News
