8 September 2010

KK Archdiocese all set for episcopal ordination

PENAMPANG (CS) - The Kota Kinabalu Archdiocese is all set for the episcopal ordination of Most Rev John Wong Soo Kau as Coadjutor Archbishop of the archdiocese Oct 1 at 4:00 pm at the Sacred Heart Cathedral Karamunsing.

A coadjutor bishop is an assistant bishop who automatically succeeds the current bishop of a diocese upon the latter's retirement, removal or death.

Preparations are in full swing after the announcement was made June 21 with Msgr Primus Jouil heading the organising committee.

All the archbishops and bishops of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei will be attending, with Archbishop John Lee as the presiding bishop.

Reactions to the appointment were varied: "He is young. Is he capable of that responsibility?" "A perfect choice." "God has chosen him..."

It actually caught the archdiocese by surprise as many were expecting a more senior priest to be appointed.

The coadjutor archbishop-elect himself was caught by surprise as well.

He told Catholic Sabah June 26 that he received the appointment June 7, the day after his 42nd birthday.

That day, he was on his way to the Bundu Tuhan Retreat Centre to attend the seminar for clergy facilitated by John Poon, a lay psychologist who has been working closely with the clergy and religious in Australia for many years.

He said he was thankful for the seminar as it gave him time to recollect himself and make his decision.

Born on 6 June 1968 in Sandakan, the archbishop-elect is the seventh child in a brood of six boys and five girls born to the late Paul Wong Shui Tshun and Rose Chung Thiem Yun.

"I had never dreamt of becoming a priest, only a simple teacher," he wrote in his priestly ordination souvenir magazine in 1999.

However, he did not resist the call when it came, first in 1984 when he was in Form Three.

"Seeing Fr Chi serving such a big parish [St Mary Sandakan] alone, I felt a desire to help him to serve the people...the thought of becoming an instrument of God to serve His people came 'on and off' to me but I was too scared to mention it to others," he continued.

After completing Form 5 in 1986, he worked as a travelling salesman for three and a half years. At the same time the future archbishop was actively involved in the Chinese church choir and other youth activities.

"It was at this time that I felt again the strong desire to serve in the Church," he said.

With the encouragement from Fr Chi, his own siblings and friends, he entered the aspirancy [Intensive English Course] in 1990 at the Catholic Diocesan Centre Penampang.

"During the course of studying English for one and a half years, my struggle to master it was a real torture as English was a subject I seldom passed in school. But the encouragement and support from my friends and classmates helped me to overcome it," the archbishop-elect said.

He was accepted into St Peter's College in 1992 and finished his priestly studies in 1998.

He was ordained deacon by Bishop John Lee at the Sacred Heart Cathedral on 8 Jan 1998 and ordained a priest a year later on 21 Jan 1999 by the same bishop at St Mary Sandakan.

After serving four years at the cathedral parish, he was sent for further studies at the Teresianum Rome where he obtained a licentiate in spirituality in 2004.

Upon his return, he was appointed as director of the aspirants at the Catholic Diocesan Centre and vice-director of the Initiation Year of St Peter's College Karamunsing.

At the same time he also helped out at the cathedral and its subparish of Church of Mary Immaculate in Bukit Padang, especially among the Chinese-speaking parishioners.

Apart from these responsibilities he has also been appointed as spiritual adviser to the Bible Commission 2006-2007 and currently to the Youth Commission.

At age 42, he will be the youngest candidate to be ordained bishop in the Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Region.

 

Archbishop-Elect John Wong's coat of arms

The shield = shield of faith in the armour of God against the burning arrows of the devil

The white dove = the Holy Spirit who gives strength, power and inspiration to the People of God to live by God's laws

The red FIAT = Latin for Let it be done; Mary's humble obedience to God's Will; the courage to obey and trust God in carrying out the mission to build up the local Church and to proclaim his Word to all under all circumstances

The mountain = the geographic location of the archdiocese in Sabah; God's holy mountain Mt Zion; God as the Rock of our faith and salvation

The red half of the heart = Sacred Heart of Jesus; also the Sacred Heart Cathedral, the seat of the bishop

The blue half of the heart = Immaculate Heart of Mary

Gold of the Cross behind the shield = glory of the faithful

Yellow = glory of God

Green = colour of a diocesan bishop

Motto: Iman (Faith), Harapan (Hope), Kasih (Love) = three theological virtues in the national language