Getting to know Archbishop-elect Julian Leow

His Holiness Pope Francis appointed Fr Julian Leow Beng Kim, aged 50, as the new Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur Archdiocese. This news was announced simultaneously on Thursday, July 3 at the Vatican and at the Archdiocesan Office.

Jul 24, 2014

His Holiness Pope Francis appointed Fr Julian Leow Beng Kim, aged 50, as the new Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur Archdiocese. This news was announced simultaneously on Thursday, July 3 at the Vatican and at the Archdiocesan Office. In the midst of preparing for his ordination, Archbishop-elect Julian Leow has taken time out of his busy schedule to answer some questions for the HERALD. Below is the first of a three-part installment.

Can you share with us how you learned about your appointment as the fourth Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur and the series of events that took place leading up until the appointment was announced on July 3?
I received a call from the Apostolic Nuncio on Monday, June 30 at about 9.15am. He asked if I could come to the Vatican Embassy immediately to meet him. Luckily I had just returned home to Seremban from Penang the day before as the seminary had just closed for the mid-semester break.

By 11.00am I was there and the Nuncio told me that I am appointed by Pope Francis to be the 4th Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur and if I would accept. I was dumb-struck. I felt like Jesus with this agony in the Garden…“let this Cup pass me by…not my will but Yours be done.”

I asked for some time to be in prayer before giving him my answer. It was an agonizing moment for me. My life would change forever with this appointment. I did not want this, but I could not say ‘No’. I remembered the words someone dear to me said, “If you are asked… please do not refuse.” And so I, in all human frailty and humility I told the Nuncio, “I accept the Holy Father’s appointment.”

In spite of the enormity of challenges ahead of me, I had peace within me. The next 72 hours was surreal to me. There was calmness and serenity. There were arrangements to be made for the simultaneous announcement to be made in KL at 6.00pm as it was made in Rome at 12 noon on July 3. There was a lot of coordination on the part of the Nuncio with Rome to ensure that that my acceptance and subsequent announcement in the Bollettino (Daily Bulletin of the Holy See Press Office) was confirmed. I thank Archbishop Emeritus Pakiam, Fr Lawrence Andrew SJ and the staff of the Archbishop office for organizing the Press Release on July 6.

What was your family’s reaction to your news? Particularly your mother?
phone calls starting coming in at my home in Seremban just after 6.00pm on July 3. I hadn’t told them anything about the appointment but they suspected something was amiss when I was going up to KL the past 3 days prior. I had also told them I was unable to go with them on a short holiday we had planned earlier the next week as something unexpected came up. They were very proud when it all came to light. My mother was also worried that I had now more issues and challenges ahead to deal with. I know she will always be there supporting me. Family members were trying to contact me on my mobile which I was unable to reply due to the over-whelming respond from the people of God.

Could you discuss how your 12-plus years of ministry have helped prepare you for your new role?
Firstly, I hope that I will never forget I was ordained to be a shepherd to the flock and assigned to a particular parish. I must say I have had supportive and wonderful parishes that I had worked in as a seminarian and as a priest. These have taught me to be available and present to the people I serve, to be compassionate and caring but also to be firm and to challenge. As people have challenged my somewhat narrow viewpoints, prejudices and opinions, I have grown to take criticism in my stride.

The opportunity to study in Rome (ecclesiastical studies), Taiwan (language studies) and attending formation and conferences in Thailand and visiting neighbouring Asean countries, had helped me to appreciate the universality of the Catholic Church. As we were once students, either in College General seminary or in the university in Rome, we know our limitedness and littleness, compared to God’s vastness and abundance in grace and mercy.

You have served under two archbishops. Can you briefly describe how each one of them has influenced your ministry?
This is not a comparision of styles, of who is better or more efficient but how each of us brings our own flavour into this Office. Archbishop Soter has been a very fatherly figure to me as a seminarian, a young priest and a formator in the seminary. His personal, warm, caring demeanour has reinforced that aspect of shepherd-hood I sometimes have neglected in trying to be an efficient and proficient priest.

Archbishop Soter has taught me to feel with the heart, to care for the broken and to heal their wounds. Archbishop Pakiam has shown a steely resolve to see things through to the end, not give up, if one truly believes what one is doing is right, not necessarily popular. He stands by his principles and ready to face all the flack thrown at him, calmly and respectfully. He shares his ideas, opinions openly and challenges me to broaden my own perceptions and pre-conceived ideas.

When did your road to the priesthood begin? Can you recall some of the people in your life who influenced your vocation?
As an altar boy at the age of 12, I was close to the sanctuary and was introduced more personally to the rites and rituals of the Mass. Every priest who served in Seremban had an impact and influence in my life. Fr Anthony Naden, with his ministry among the aborigines and less fortunate, made a deep impression on me. The religious Infant Jesus Sr Patricia Lee, journeyed with me in my early youth days. Their care and concern for the ‘little ones’ remained with me. Our Visitation Christmas Campaign to the poor also exposed me to the plight of the neglected ones in society.

Hence, the first inklings of a vocation to the religious life occurred around the age of 17-18 after the SPM exams and thinking of what the future may hold for me. Many people have had an influence in my faith and vocation journey until I finally stepped into the seminary when I was 30 years old. The faith handed down by my parents, godparents, relatives and friends strengthened this vocation of mine.

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