By Fr Sixtus Pitah, OFM
SIBU – Forty-two priests from the 10 arch/dioceses across the Catholic Bishops Conference of Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei gathered for the annual Young Priest Gathering (YPG). The event, held from Oct 7-11 and hosted by the Diocese of Sibu, brought together clergy ordained for less than five years, for a time of fellowship and formation.
The five-day programme opened with a Eucharistic celebration at the Sibu Diocese Pastoral Centre, presided over by Bishop Richard Ng of the Miri Diocese, who oversaw the YPG.
The YPG 2024 programme was divided into two key parts – formation for the young clergy and an excursion to the local community within the Sibu Diocese, particularly in the Mukah District.
The formation sessions centred on the Church’s current theme of Synodality. Fr Ivan Fang spoke on the role of the Synodal Priest, while Fr Joseph Sebastian shared his personal experience in this capacity. James Lau offered a layperson’s perspective on Synodality, drawing from his involvement in the Neo-Catechumenate community.
The excursion brought the young priests to the Mukah District, where they were hosted by 20 local Melanau families across five chapels under the parish of Sts Peter and Paul, Mukah. These foster families took their adopted ‘clergy-children’ on sightseeing tours around the kampung, held prayer sessions, shared their faith, and celebrated evening Mass in each chapel, followed by community celebrations with the local people.
During the Mass at the Church of Sts Peter and Paul, celebrated by Bishop Joseph Hii of Sibu Diocese, the local ordinary, in his homily, encouraged the clergy to befriend their bishops and share any concerns they might have, so that their bishops could provide advice and offer the necessary support to the young clergy.
After Mass, the young clergy visited an Iban longhouse in Ulu Dijih, Selangau, hosted by Tamin State Assemblyman Christopher Gira and Tuai Rumah Simond Boom. There, they celebrated Mass, performed house blessings, and joined in the celebrations with the longhouse families.
During the visit to the longhouse, Fr Michel Dass of the Kuala Lumpur Archdiocese, representing the young clergy, outlined the multiple aims of the YPG – to provide a platform for young priests to learn about local customs and engage with the community; to strengthen bonds among the clergy and various Catholic communities within the Bishops’ Conference; to promote vocations, and to reach out to students preparing to study abroad, ensuring they remain connected to the Church while away from their families.
Madam Florence Holita Bernard Miran, one of the foster family heads, expressed her gratitude to the clergy for selecting Mukah as the excursion venue. She shared that the clergy host family programme, though brief, had deeply enriched the families involved in many meaningful ways. – Herald Malaysia
