The Journey of Synodality continues

By Richard Chia

KENINGAU — This year’s 114th Plenary Assembly of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei (CBCMSB) was held at the serene and quiet hilltop of the Pusat Ziarah Keluarga Kudus (Holy Family Pilgrimage Centre) Nulu Sosopon, Keningau. This venue was selected to coincide with the 75th birthday celebration of Bishop Cornelius Piong, the first bishop of the Diocese of Keningau, Sabah.

In his speech to the conference members, His Excellency, the Apostolic Nuncio to Malaysia, Archbishop Wojciech Załuski highlighted two recent announcements from the Vatican. The release of the norms for the proceeding in the discernment of alleged supernatural phenomena, and the announcement of the Jubilee Year 2025. He reminded the conference of the Opening of the Holy Door of Saint Peter’s Basilica on 24 December 2024, and the Pope’s opening of the Cathedral doors of the Basilica of Saint John Lateran on 29 December 2024. He pointed out the liturgical texts for the Mass for the Holy Year and the decree on the granting of the Jubilee Indulgence, prepared by the Dicastery for Evangelization are also available.

Each bishop then took turns to update His Excellency on the state of their dioceses. The Bishops shared the joys, challenges, hopes and dreams for their respective Dioceses. It was very edifying to listen to the sharings and to be in solidarity with each Bishop.   

Rev Fr David Garaman from the Diocese of Sandakan, who was the nominated representative from the CBCMSB to attend the meeting entitled “Parish Priests for the Synod: An International Meeting” held in Rome on 28 April until 2 May 2024, gave a heart-warming sharing of his experience there. He expressed his gratitude to the conference for giving him the opportunity to be among the 200 parish priests throughout the world. He said, “There is a sense of deep gratitude to all the priests for their unwavering dedication, boundless commitment, loyalty, and passion in advancing the sacred mission entrusted by Our Lord”. The bishops then suggested he share his testimony among all parish priests in the conference.

For the Malaysian Church, the regional pastoral assemblies (RPA) scheduled for 25-27 Aug 2024 in Johor Bahru, 17-20 Sept 2024 in Sibu and 11-12 May 2025 in Kota Kinabalu, are the next steps for the nine dioceses in Malaysia towards being a Synodal Church. Every diocese had their respective arch/diocesan pastoral assemblies in the past two years, and thousands of parishioners have participated. After the RPAs, the Church in Malaysia will be looking forward to the Malaysian Pastoral Convention scheduled for 9-13 Sept 2026.

Another event discussed at length is the much talked about papal visit to Singapore on 11-13 Sept 2024. Cardinal William Goh, the Archbishop of Singapore, informed the conference of the papal visit’s official theme and logo: Unity and Hope. He reiterated that security and restrictions are tight. The papal Mass is expected to bring together more than 50,000 attendees comprising cardinals, archbishops and bishops from Rome, FABC and CBCMSB, religious congregations, international and regional media, Singapore government officials, diplomats, ecumenical groups, and lay faithful, including attendees from the elderly, wheelchair bound, migrants and special groups. Archbishop Julian Leow, as President of CBCMSB will be in the Papal Delegation with Cardinal William Goh and His Excellency Archbishop Marek Zalewski, the Apostolic Nuncio to the Republic of Singapore.

The various Episcopal Commissions of the CBCMSB updated their progress, with some reporting changes to their core team as their term of office ends. Some reporting were done by the Bishops, while the following were done via online and in-person:-

1. Episcopal Regional Liturgy Commission (ERLC)
2. Regional Office for the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS)
3. Caritas Malaysia
4. Episcopal Commission for Creation Justice (ECCJ)
5. Episcopal Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerants (ECMI)

Besides the meeting proper, there were also opportunities to visit “Kekitaan.FM” the Online radio station (FB page: Kekitaanfm, with 33,000 followers) and Parish of Tatal to meet and greet the community and experience the colourful and varied culture of Keningau.