Congratulations Fr Julian Leow new Archbishop of KL!

The Vatican on July 3 named Fr 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.

Jul 11, 2014

Fr Julian Leow

KUALA LUMPUR: The Vatican on July 3 named Fr 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 at 6.00pm. Fr Leow, aged 50, 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, with an estimated Catholic population of 185,617. The Seremban-born Archbishop-elect 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 in Building.

After university, he worked for six years as site coordinator at different constructions in Sydney, Singapore, Johor and Kuala Lumpur,

In 1994, he entered College General Major Seminary in Penang for his studies for formation to the priesthood.

Ordained priest for the archdiocese of KL on April 20, 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.

Speaking to reporters later, Archbishop-elect 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.

Archbishop-elect Leow added that 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, he 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 in and work, a diversity of ethnicity, culture and religion, and let this bind us as unity is our diversity,” he added.

Archbishop Emeritus 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 Archbishop-elect Leow is a deeply religious person with a human face.

Since 2010, Archbishop-elect Leow has been Dean of Studies, Father Librarian and Initiation Year Director at College General, the seminary in Penang.

Archbishop-elect Leow is the first Chinese Malaysian to be appointed to lead the archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur (KL).

He will be the fourth Archbishop of the Kuala Lumpur Archdiocese. The first Archbishop to lead the Kuala Lumpur Archdiocese was the late Archbishop Emeritus Tan Sri Dominic Vendargon, who served for nearly 30 years from 1955 to 1983. He was succeeded by Archbishop Emeritus Anthony Soter Fernandez, who was then replaced by Archbishop Pakiam in 2003. Archbishop Pakiam held the post for a decade before retiring last year. -- Agencies

Total Comments:0

Name
Email
Comments