Chancery Notice: Obituary of Fr Peter Bretaudeau MEP

Sep 03, 2021

                                                           OBITUARY
                              
                                      Rev Fr Peter Bretaudeau MEP 
                                      Born: 25th January 1931 
                                      Ordained: 2nd April 1956 
                                      Departed: 2nd September 2021

It is with profound sorrow that we announce the passing of Rev Fr Peter Bretaudeau MEP, who passed away this morning at 11.00 am – Malaysian Standard Time (5.00am – French Standard Time) at the age of 90.

Father Peter was born in 1931 as the third of five children in the village of Le  Poiré-sur-Vie in Vendée, France. He has the distinguished accolade of being one of Malaysia’s longest-serving foreign priests.

A year after joining the Foreign Missionary Society of Paris (MEP- Missions  Etrangeres de Paris) in Paris, he pursued and completed his priestly formation in the Gregorian University, Rome. He subsequently continued for another year of studies to obtain his licentiate in Theology. Upon the completion of his  ecclesiastical studies, Fr Peter was ordained a priest on 2nd April 1956.

Fr Peter left France for permanent mission in Malaysia, where he remained for  the next 57 years.

Upon arriving in Kuala Lumpur in October 1957, he received his first pastoral  posting in St John’s Cathedral. To facilitate his missionary work, he studied  English for a year and Tamil for two years in India.

After his sabbatical in India, Fr Peter returned to Kuala Lumpur and served at  St. Joseph’s church Sentul for four years. He was later appointed the Parish  Priest of the Church of Our Lady of Fatima, Brickfields in the heart of KL.

After almost eight years in Malaysia, he left for France for his first home leave in 1965. During these six months stint in France, he conducted several  conferences where he shared on his pastoral work in Malaysia.

Other than English and Tamil, Fr Peter also undertook an intensive course in Bahasa for three months in Permatang Siantar, Indonesia, in order to improve his proficiency in the language.

Upon returning to Malaysia, he was posted to the Church of the Visitation, Seremban from 1967 to 1977, and the Church of St. John Vianney, Tampin  from 1977 to 1987. During that time, he was actively involved with both Catholics and non-Catholics working in the plantation estates. Fr Peter collaborated with the National Union of Plantation Workers (NUPW) and formed an organisation to improve the education opportunities for estate  workers’ children.   

Fr Peter served under the leadership of the late Cardinal Soter Fernandez for 20 years and worked together as a team on the “Five Loaves and Two Fishes”  responsible for pioneering BECs in Peninsular Malaysia as well as preparing the  groundwork for the ground-breaking Ággiornamento in 1976’.

After his retirement, Fr Peter continued active pastoral ministry as he took up residence in Sentul, Klang and Kajang until his return to France on June 12,  2014.

As a missionary priest who has taken Malaysia as his second home, Fr Peter had completed the circuit which covered at least 10 parishes in and around the  Klang Valley and Negeri Sembilan.

Below is a summary of his pastoral postings:



His  Grace  Most  Reverend  Julian  Leow,  Archbishop of  Kuala Lumpur and the  clergy of the Archdiocese would like to extend our deepest condolences to the family of the late Fr Peter Bretaudeau MEP in this time of loss and are united  with them in fraternal prayer and support.

We invite the clergy, religious and faithful to remember Rev Fr Peter Bretaudeau MEP in your Masses and prayers. 

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord; and let light perpetual shine upon him. May his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of  God, rest in peace.