Tracing the beginnings of the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur

Sep 12, 2014

Towards The Episcopal Ordination

Tracing the beginnings of the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur

By Fr P. Decroix, MEP
The first Catholic priests landed in Malacca in 1511 as military chaplains to the Portuguese. Malacca in its new role became a stop-over for the thousands of missionaries who spread the faith to South and Far East Asia. Till today, small Christian communities are found in these places due to their missionary zest. Malacca holds a special place in the history of the Church in Malaysia.

First wave of evangelisation & the the First Diocese

The year 1511 was marked with the arrival of the Portuguese led by Admiral Afonso de Albuguquergue and the first Catholic chaplains. The Portuguese captured Malacca in 1511 and its well known spice trade flourished.

Saint Francis Xavier preached in Malacca and on Feb 4, 1558, the Diocese of Malacca was established (it was the first diocese of Malaysia). It was a suffragan to the Archdiocese of Goa.

In 1641, the occupation of Malacca by the Dutch began and the authorities in power suppressed the Catholic bishops and priests.

A. VICARIATE OF SIAM (AYUTHIA) (1669 - 1784)


For nearly one and a half centuries (1510-1641) the Portuguese Authorities, religious and civil, exercised a strict control over the missionary expansion of the Church throughout the world, whether going East (India & East Indies) or West (America & West Indies).

The Roman Authorities decided to rescind the Privilege of “Padroado” they had been given, especially in Asian Countries and in 1622, the Roman Congregation of the “Propaganda” was set up in order to regain control of the missionary thrust of the Church in all the new Lands discovered by the Portuguese or Spanish navigators and conquistadores; a new kind of bishops would be sent throughout the world who would entirely depend on and take their orders from the new Roman Authority: they became known as the “Vicars Apostolic” and were put in charge of limited territories called “Apostolic Vicariates”.

The first problem encountered by the new institution was he selection of the right place to establish their centre of activity; it had to be a country enjoying a reasonable amount of peace and security and situated at the crossroads of the various countries extending from India to Japan.

Since the second half of the 17 century, most of these countries in the South or Far East had been affected by wars and persecutions: missionaries had been expelled from China, Christians were severely persecuted in Japan and Vietnam, Catholicism had been outlawed in Malacca and other Portuguese Settlements.

It would seem that the only country capable of offering a certain measure of security was Siam, or Thailand, with its capital city at Ayuthia; the people and monarch of this “Land of Smiles” would offer a peaceful hospitality to the first French “Vicars Apostolic” sent by Rome in the 1660s.

In 1662, the founders of the “Foreign Missions of Paris” or “MEP”, Msgr Lambert De La Motte (VA. of South China) and Msgr Francois Pallu (V.A. of Nanking), established their headquarters at Ayuthia (Ayuthaya), as the Centre of their work of evangelization and of the formation of local priests and the first task they undertook was the building of a seminary for priests, that would become the famous “College General”.

B. VICARIATE OF SIAM (1786-1841)

Msgr Joseph Louise Coude had obtained power from Rome to extend the authority of the Vicar Apostolic of Bangkok to the Kingdom of Kedah (1784), and so he became the Vicar Apostolic of Siam including Kedah.

In 1827, the decree of Pope Leo XII gave ecclesiastical jurisdiction over Singapore to the Apostolic Vicar of Siam. Propaganda Fide confirmed this jurisdiction over Singapore to the Apostolic Vicar of Siam on May 12, 1834.

Because of the increasing number of Catholics and missionaries, Msgr Courvezy (1834-1841) asked Rome to nominate a Coadjutor Bishop, and in 1838, M. Pallegoix was nominated and consecrated Bishop on July 3, 1838. By the Brief Universi Dominici of September 10, 1841, Rome separated the ecclesiastical region of Malaysia from the Mission of Siam: establishing the Mission of Oriental Siam comprising the Kingdom of Siam and Laos, and the Mission of West Siam which consisted of the Malayan Peninsula, the island of Sumatra and southern Burma. Msgr. Pallegoix was the Apostolic Vicar of Oriental Siam and Msgr. J P Hilaire Courvezy, the Apostolic Vicar of West Siam.

C. VICARIATE of WEST SIAM or MALAYA (1841-1888)

The Vicariate comprised of five districts: Singapore (500 Catholics), Penang (2,200 Catholics), Melaka (2,000 Catholics). Mergui and Tavoy with more than 300 were actually part of Burma.

D. DIOCESE OF MALACCA (1888-1955)


The year 1888 would be an important landmark in the history of the Church in Malaya. Pope Leo XIII re-established the old See of Malacca. The Apostolic Vicariate of Malaya is now the Diocese of Malacca and Vicar Apostolic Edward Gasnier is now the Titular Bishop, under the Archbishop of Pondicherry as metropolitan.

In 1848, the earliest church in the southern state of Malaya, the Church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Seremban was built. In 1883, the Church of St John the Evangelist, the second earliest church became the Cathedral and “Mother Church” of the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur.

The Diocese of Malacca was raised to the rank of an archdiocese in 1953.

In 1954 the clergy of the archdiocese included 44 local priests, 60 MEP missionaries, 6 Jesuits and 6 Redemptorists for a Catholic population of 105,000. The religious helped in the pastoral or educational work. (160 brothers and 500 sisters from 12 congregations).

E. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE DIOCESE OF KUALA LUMPUR (1955-1972)



In 1955, the Archdiocese of Malacca was split and an ecclesiastical province was formed in its place comprising the Archdiocese of Malacca-Singapore (Singapore, Malacca, Johor) as the metropolitan see and the Diocese of Kuala Lumpur (comprising four states Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang and Terengganu) and Diocese of Penang (comprising the six states in the northern part of the country) as suffragan dioceses.

Archbishop M Olcomendy was the metropolitan Archbishop, with 38 priests to care for 46,000 Catholics in 19 parishes. Bishop Dominic Vendargon was the head of the Diocese of Kuala Lumpur, with 22 priests to care for 29,000 Catholics in 11 parishes. He was ordained in St. John's Cathedral, Kuala Lumpur in August 1955.

Bishop Francis Chan was the head of the Diocese of Penang, with 36 priests to care for 36,000 Catholics in 21 parishes. He was ordained bishop in the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd, Singapore in August 1955.

The year 1955 was an important landmark in the history of the Church in Malaya-Singapore.The country was preparing for independence from British rule. The independence of the Federation of Malaya (including Singapore) was proclaimed by Tunku Abdul Rahman on August 31, 1957.

The political situation of the country was evolving: in 1963, the states of East Malaysia (North Borneo) were united to Peninsular Malaysia to form the Federation of Malaysia. Two years later, Singapore left Malaysia and proclaimed the Independence of the Republic of Singapore in August 1965. Such changes necessitated the re-adjustments that took place in 1972.

F: KUALA LUMPUR DIOCESE ELEVATED TO ARCHDIOCESE (1972 onwards)


Singapore ceased to be a metropolitan See and was answering directly to Rome and the two states of Malacca and Johor were detached from it and made the new diocese of Melaka-Johor, suffragan of Kuala Lumpur. Thus the new ecclesiastical set-up was as follows:

Archdiocese of Singapore with Archbishop Msgr M Olcomendy.
Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur with Archbishop Dominic Vendargon.
The suffragan sees of the Archdiocese:
a) Diocese of Penang with Bishop Gregory Yong Sooi Nghean
b) Diocese of Melaka-Johor with Bishop James Chan.

--More to follow in the next issue.

Source: History of the Church and Churches in Malaysia and Singapore (1511-2000)