Catholic Bishops' Conference of Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei

MILESTONES

MILESTONES IN THE JOURNEY OF CBCMSB

Date	Description
2024, 11-13 September	Pope Francis visits Singapore.
2023, 30 September	Bishop Sebastian Francis elevated to Cardinal.
2022, 27 August	Archbishop William Goh is elevated to Cardinal.
2020, 28 November	Bishop Cornelius Sim is elevated to Cardinal.
2019, 5 September	The Church of St. Anne, Bukit Mertajam, Penang is elevated to Minor Basilica of St. Anne.
2017, 20 March	Auxiliary Bishop Simon Poh was installed as the third Archbishop of Kuching
2016, 19 November	Archbishop Anthony Soter Fernandez is elevated to Cardinal.
2016, 12 January	Rev. Fr. Bernard Paul from the Diocese of Penang was ordained and installed as the third Bishop of Melaka-Johor.
2014, 6 October	Archbishop Julian Leow replaced Emeritus Archbishop Murphy Pakiam as the fourth archbishop of Kuala Lumpur.
2014, 25 January	Bishop Richard Ng was ordained and installed the third Bishop of the Diocese of Miri
2013, 30 October	Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Bishop Anthony Lee and appointed Rev. Fr. Richard Ng from the Archdiocese of Kuching to succeed him.
2012, 15 February	Rev. Fr. Joseph Hii, who was ordained Auxiliary Bishop in 2008, was installed as the second Bishop of Sibu, replacing Bishop Dominic Su.
2010, 21 June	Pope Benedict XVI appointed Rev. Fr. John Wong Soo Kau as Coadjutor Archbishop of Kota Kinabalu. His ordination took place on 1 October 2010 and was installed as the second Archbishop of Kota Kinabalu.
2009	Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Malaysia officially launched the English edition of the Malaysian Catechetical Series. The Series runs from Level 1 to Level 10 for Malaysian children from ages 7 to 16.
2008, 23 May	The Diocese of Kota Kinabalu was raised to an Archdiocese, with Diocese of Keningau and Diocese of Sandakan as its suffragan sees. The first Archbishop of Kota Kinabalu was Bishop John Lee.
2007, 16 July	The erection of the Diocese of Sandakan, with territory taken from the Diocese of Kota Kinabalu, making it a suffragan see of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Kuching. The first bishop of Sandakan is Bishop Julius Dusin Gitom.
2005	Archbishop Anthony Soter Fernandez launched the first two series (Series 1 and 7) of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Malaysia’s Catechetical Series.
2004, 20 October	The Apostolic Prefecture of Brunei was elevated to an Apostolic Vicariate. Bishop Cornelius Sim was appointed the first apostolic vicar for Brunei.
1998, 22 February	A proclamation of the papal bull declaring the installation of the Apostolic Prefecture of Brunei Darussalam.
1997, 21 December	The territory of the Vicariate of Brunei was designated as an Apostolic Prefecture headed by Monsignor Cornelius Sim.
1992, 17 December	The erection of the Diocese of Keningau, with territory taken from the Diocese of Kota Kinabalu, making it a suffragan see of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Kuching. The first bishop of Keningau is Bishop Cornelius Piong.
1986, 22 December	The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Kuching lost territory on 12 December 1986 when Pope John Paul II erected the Diocese of Sibu as its second suffragan. On 6 January 1987, Bishop Dominic Su was ordained as the first Bishop of Sibu.
1977, 20 May	Pope Paul VI appointed Bishop Anthony Lee as the first bishop of the Diocese of Miri. On 20 November 1977, he was ordained bishop in St. Joseph’s Cathedral, Miri.
1976, 25 July	The Apostolic Vicariate of Jesselton became the Diocese of Kota Kinabalu. The first bishop of Kota Kinabalu is Bishop Simon Fung.
1976, 31 May	Pope Paul VI established the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Kuching, with suffragan sees of Miri and Sibu. The Miri Vicariate was raised to the level of a Diocese.
1972, 18 December	The Diocese of Kuala Lumpur was elevated to the rank of a Metropolitan Archdiocese, with the suffragan dioceses of Penang and Malacca-Johore. In 1972, Archdiocese of Malacca-Singapore was split into the Archdiocese of Singapore and the Diocese of Malacca-Johore. Archbishop Michel Olçomendy continued to serve as Archbishop of Singapore until hos retirement in 1976.
1967, 3-7 July	The first meeting of the Conference of the Catholic Bishops of Malaysia and Singapore was held. The Conference decided to change its name from Malacca-Singapore to Malaysia-Singapore to include East Malaysia and Brunei.
1960, 8 May	Pope John XXIII ordained Bishop Anthony Galvin as the first bishop of the Vicariate of Miri.
1959, 19 December	The Vicariate of Miri was established.
1955, 25 February	Erection of the Diocese of Kuala Lumpur and the Diocese of Penang as a suffragan see of the Archdiocese of Malacca. Bishop Dominic Vendargon and Bishop Francis Chan became the first Malaysian bishops to hold these positions.
1952, 14 February	Erection of the Apostolic Vicariate of Jesselton. Bishop James Buis was installed as the first vicar apostolic. The Apostolic Prefecture of Sarawak was promoted to the Apostolic Vicariate of Kuching by Pope Pius XII. The territory of the Vicariate of Brunei was carved out from the Apostolic Vicariate of Jesselton and transferred to the territory of the Apostolic Vicariate of Kuching.

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