Bishop Cornelius Piong, the first Bishop of the Diocese

May 16, 2014

KENINGAU (Herald Malaysia): Bishop Cornelius Piong was born on July 1, 1949 in Bundu Kuala Penyu, North Borneo (now Sabah.) He was ordained a priest on March 27, 1977 and was appointed bishop of Keningau on February 2, 1993. His episcopal ordination was on May 6, 1993. He is currently the president of the Malaysia- Singapore-Brunei Episcopal Commission for Culture and the Malaysian Catechetical Commission.

Bishop Cornelius is the first bumiputera (indigenous — Kadazan Tatana) bishop in Malaysia and the first local bishop of the diocese of Keningau. Hailing from Kuala Penyu, he entered St Francis Xavier minor seminary in Singapore in 1970 and College General major seminary in Penang in 1972.

He was ordained priest on March 27, 1977 at St Peter Bundu Kuala Penyu parish by the late Bishop Simon Fung. He was appointed as Vicar General of the Diocese of Kota Kinabalu in June 1987.

He received his appointment as the Bishop of the new Diocese of Keningau on December 17, 1992, and was ordained Bishop on May 6, 1993 at St Francis Xavier Cathedral Keningau by Archbishop Datuk Peter Chung of Archdiocese of Kuching.

In 1996, he was awarded Darjah Pangilma Gemilang Darjah Kinabalu (PGDK) which carries the title “Datuk” by the Yang Di-Pertua Sabah at that time, Tun Sakaran Dandai. Currently, he is the president of the Malaysian Catechetical Commission.

Bishop Piong is also one of the more outspoken Christian leaders. He slammed the silence of the leaders who are Christians when confronted with “extremist elements of political Islam” who were targeting hardcore poor Sabahans for the purpose of carrying out dubious conversions.

In 2012, in his message for 49th Malaysian Day, Bishop Piong reminded Putrajaya and highlighted the agreement that is carved on the Oath Stone that Sabah native land would be safeguarded by the state government, and the federal government would respect and protect Sabah local customs. The Oath Stone is still visibly read and stands in the compound of the Keningau district council’s administration centre.