I was told in Malaysia several years ago that the KL Catholic Archbishops from the first and the third were only Indians, because Christianity had arrived in India earlier than in China. If it was true, why suddenly this policy has been changed? (Lily)
1.Vatican Insider (http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it)
07/ 3/2014
Pope appoints Chinese Malaysian priest as new archbishop of Kuala Lumpur
Pope Francis has appointed, for the first time, a Chinese Malaysian priest as archbishop of Kuala Lumpur
by Gerard O'Connell
ROME
Pope Francis has appointed a 50-year old Chinese Malaysian priest, Julian Leow Beng Kim, as the new archbishop of Kuala Lumpur.
The announcement was made simultaneously in the Vatican and Kuala Lumpur, July 3. Archbishop Joseph Marino, the papal nuncio, broke the news at the archbishop’s residence in the federal capital.
“I accepted the position in obedience, and after prayer," Bishop-elect Leow told the media.
He emphasized the importance of dialogue with the other religions and said he "is looking forward to having inter-religious dialogues and fostering closer ties with Malaysians of various races and faiths", The Star reported.
"Once dialogue is shut out, there will be a lot of misinterpretation. Inter-religious dialogue is important for the whole country and we will find unity in diversity," The Star reported him as saying.
“Dialogue is important, not only for me but the whole country, where we are able to sit down together, be passionate about our own faith, and respect each other" the Sundaily quoted him as saying.
He wisely refused to comment on the controversial question regarding the use of the word Allah by Christians that has resulted in a recent court decision, saying he would reserve his views on this for now but would speak at the appropriate time.
“Let us make Malaysia a wonderful place to live and work, a diversity of ethnic, culture and religion, and let this bind us as unity is our diversity," he said, according to MSN Malaysia News.
Malaysia, a predominantly Muslim country, has a population of 30.2 million people, made up of three main ethnic groups: Malays, Chinese and peoples of the Asian sub-continent. Most of the country’s 985,000 Catholics are of Chinese or Indian origin, and up to now the archbishops of Kuala Lumpur (KL) have been of Indian origin.
Father Leow, who worked for six years in the construction industry before going onto study for the priesthood, is the first Chinese Malaysian to be appointed to lead the archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur (KL). He succeeds Archbishop Murphy Pakiam, whose resignation the Pope accepted on 13 December 2013 for reasons of age.
The bishop-elect becomes the spiritual leader of the 243,865 Catholics in this city of 1.7 million people. He becomes the spiritual father to the archdiocese’s 57 priests, 14 men (non-priest) religious and 98 professed women religious.
It is unusual to appoint a priest as archbishop; the normal path is for the archbishop to be chosen from among the existing bishops. Pope Francis, however, has made clear that in choices such as this, it is important to find the right man, even if he is not yet a bishop, and that is what happened here.
Fr Julian Leow was born in Seremban on 3 January 1964. After completing his elementary and secondary school studies in St Paul’s Mission School he went to New South Wales University in Australia (1983-88), where he obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Building.
After university he worked for six years as site coordinator of different constructions in Sydney, Singapore, Johor and Kuala Lumpur, before going on to study for the priesthood at the College General Major Seminary in Penang.
Ordained priest for the archdiocese of KL on 20 April 2002, he served as assistant priest at Visitation Parish in Seremban. Two years later, he went to Taiwan for six months to study Mandarin. At the end of that year he was assigned as parish priest of Holy Family parish in Kajang, where he remained until 2007 when his archbishop sent him to Rome to study Church history at the Pontifical Gregorian University.
After gaining his degree in Church history, he returned to Malaysia in 2010 and was appointed professor and formator at the College General Major Seminary in Penang, a post he held until his nomination by Pope Francis as the fourth archbishop of Kuala Lumpur, one of the nine dioceses in this country.
When asked at the press conference if he sees his new position as a challenge, the bishop elect had this to say, according to Sundaily: “I would say yes and no, as this can be looked upon as an opportunity in a challenge. It is like a shoemaker entering a place where everyone does not wear shoes. He can either look at it as an opportunity for his shoes to sell, or he could see it as a challenge."
2. Malaysian Insider (http://www.themalaysianinsider.com)
Julian Leow named new Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur, 3 July 2014
by Jennifer Gomez
(Photo) Father Julian Leow (right) stands with the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Joseph Marino (centre) and archbishop emeritus Murphy Pakiam before Leow was named the new Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur this evening.
The Vatican today named Reverend Father Julian Leow Beng Kim as the Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur, taking over from Archbishop Emeritus Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam who stepped down on December 6 upon turning 75. Apostolic Nuncio to Malaysia Archbishop Joseph S. Marino announced the appointment at the archdiocesan office in Bukit Nanas, Kuala Lumpur this evening. Leow will take on the title of Archbishop-elect until such time he is officially installed as the new Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur.
There are 40 parishes and chapels under the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur, which covers Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Pahang, Terengganu and Negeri Sembilan.
The Seremban-born Leow has been a priest for 12 years. He attended St Paul's Institution for his elementary and secondary studies. He later studied at the New South Wales University in Australia from 1983 to 1988 and obtained a Bachelors Degree of Building. In 1994, he entered College General Major Seminary in Penang for his studies for formation to the priesthood. He was ordained a priest on April 20, 2002.
Speaking to reporters later, Leow said that he had mixed feelings when he came to know that he was the one chosen for the post of archbishop a few days ago. "It was surreal for me, I was unsure what was happening," he said.
Leow added he was thankful to be inheriting a good structure from his predecessors and hoped to build on the foundation that had already been laid.
When asked about his stand on the contentious "Allah" issue, Leow said, "I have my views on it, but I have to speak to the lawyers first before I make any statement."
He was then asked about inter-religious dialogue, to which he made it clear that it was very important, adding that much effort had been put into it, especially by the Catholic Church.
He then added that he believes "dialogue is key, even in the Allah issue". "Let us make Malaysia a wonderful place to live and work, a diversity of ethnic, culture and religion, and let this bind us as unity is our diversity," Leow added.
Pakiam said, "I am happy for this little bit of transition that we see. "He brings a professional touch to the administration of the church, as seen when he was the parish priest of the Holy Family Church in Kajang." He also said that Leow is a deeply religious person with a human face. Since 2010, Leow has served as one of the formators at the College General Seminary. Leow's appointment as archbishop today comes at a time when relations between the Catholic church and Putrajaya are at its lowest ebb. Just 10 days ago, the Federal Court rejected an application by the Titular Roman Catholic Archbishop to challenge the ban on the use of the word "Allah" in the Bahasa Malaysia secttion of its weekly publication, Herald.
The Catholic Church is now mulling whether to seek a review of the Federal Court decision, in which three of the judges in the seven-man bench gave dissenting judgments. Chief Justice of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Richard Malanjum and Federal Court judges Datuk Zainun Ali and Tan Sri Jeffey Tan Kok Hwa had held that leave must be granted to the Catholic Church. However, Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria, who led the seven-man bench, said the President of Court of Appeal Tan Sri Md Raus Sharif, Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Zulkifli Ahmad Makinuddin and Federal Court judge Tan Sri Suriyadi Halim Omar agreed that leave should not be granted.
The publisher of the Catholic weekly, Herald, had been using the word "Allah" in the publication since 1995 until the Home Minister imposed a ban in 2009.
On October 14 last year, a three-man bench led by Datuk Seri Mohamed Apandi Ali allowed Putrajaya's appeal to ban Herald from using the word Allah, saying there was a 1986 directive by the ministry that prohibited non-Muslim publications from using four words, "Allah", "Kaabah", "Solat" and "Baitullah". Apandi in his judgment had said that the reason for the prohibition was to protect the sanctity of Islam and prevent any confusion among Muslims. He had also ruled that if the word was allowed to be used by Christians, it could threaten national security and public order. – July 3, 2014.
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