BANGKOK (UCAN) -- In his 22 years as prelate of Kota Kinabalu, Archbishop John Lee Hiong Fun-Yit Yaw has seen his Church territory divided up twice, before being elevated to an archdiocese.
In a recent email interview with UCA News, he spoke about issues such as the challenges the Church in the eastern Malaysian state of Sabah faces, the vision and mission of his archdiocese and vocations to the priesthood.
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Archbishop John Lee Hiong |
Archbishop Lee turned 76 on Oct. 5. He requested retirement from Pope Benedict XVI last year, a requirement by canon law for prelates reaching the age of 75.
The present Kota Kinabalu archdiocese, based in the Sabah capital, was formerly the apostolic vicariate of Jesselton, established in 1952. It changed its name to Kota Kinabalu in 1968, and became a diocese in 1976. Keningau diocese was carved out of it in 1992 and Sandakan diocese created from part of its territory in 2007.
Kota Kinabalu was elevated to an archdiocese in 2008. It presently serves about 214,000 Catholics who comprise mainly bumiputras and Chinese.Bumiputra or "sons of the soil," is a term used to describe the indigenous peoples of Muslim-majority Malaysia including the majority Malays.
Archbishop Lee's interview follows:
How do you view the Church in Malaysia?
ARCHBISHOP JOHN LEE HIONG FUN-YIT YAW: The Malaysian Church as a whole is quite alive and active. We are happy to hear nice comments from outsiders when they see our church services are packed. But we need to be careful not to become complacent. Globalization also comes with many values and beliefs which are harmful to healthy living.
The building of the Kingdom of God is ongoing and our people need to respond to their vocations conscientiously, or else we may be building on sand. As a minority, we do face difficulties. There are concerns here and there regarding our freedom. But as long as our lives are centered on the Lord and are not distracted, I believe we will triumph over the challenges.
What have been the main highlights of Kota Kinabalu archdiocese in all these years?
I would say the pastoral planning process which we started in 1995 to 1997, resulting in a Diocesan Vision and Mission, is one of the highlights. (Editor: The archdiocese's mission is: "A caring communion of Christ-centered communities journeying together in faith, hope and love, empowered by the Holy Spirit in the evangelizing mission of building the Kingdom of God.")
The creation of two new dioceses from Kota Kinabalu, namely Keningau in 1992 and Sandakan in 2007 was also a sign of maturity of the local Church.
What are the effects of the elevation of Kota Kinabalu as an archdiocese, on you as archbishop, and on the Church in Sabah?
Things remain fairly the same. The only thing is that we now have three bishops to discuss and share the concerns of the Church in Sabah. Many of theses concerns are similar since we all belong to the state of Sabah.
What are the greatest challenges for your archdiocese now?
How to get our people involved, especially clergy and lay leaders, to work together to build the local Church as stated in the archdiocesan vision. If you look at our vision, it encompasses the essential elements of the teachings of the Church -- communion of Christ-centered communities, journeying together, empowered by the Holy Spirit, building the Kingdom of God. But to live it out is a big challenge because there are also external factors that influence the day-to-day life of our people -- media, consumerism, secularism, new technologies, etc.
How is your archdiocese responding to these challenges?
We hope that through the many formation programs and catechesis, our people will be strengthened in their conviction to help one another in living their faith. Ultimately in our vision we aim towards the building of small Christian communities, because it is there that our people will experience supported for their faith-life journey and will be able to share the evangelizing mission of the Church.
Some of our parishes have begun to create zones to facilitate better pastoral care. When the zones get too big they may see the need to have smaller groupings. I guess this is how BECs (Basic Ecclesial Communities) will finally come about. Let's allow the Spirit to move the hearts, the structures will come later.
Vocations to the priesthood now come mainly from the bumiputra community in Sabah. What effect will this have on the Church here?
It is true that many young indigenous youths respond to the priesthood. But when they are ordained, they serve everyone, irrespective of race or ethnicity. Our formation process should emphasize this universality, that there is "no Greek or Jews." We are all people of God. We should not allow racial politics to influence our way of thinking in the Church. We must avoid thinking along racial lines, because that is a divisive factor which will destroy our very being as a Church.
What can the Church in other parts of Malaysia learn from the experiences of the Church in Sabah?
I think each local Church has its own unique history and journey. Many of these are shaped by how they respond to the prompting of the Spirit in a particular time and situation. So I do not know if our experiences in Sabah can be applied elsewhere in the country. But it will be definitely helpful if there is more exchange and sharing of experiences among the various dioceses in the country.
What qualities must your successor have?
It would be good if he is open and committed to the archdiocesan vision. As I have earlier, our Vision and Mission encompass all the essential elements of life in the Church. So it would be wise to keep it and work towards it.
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