The composition of Catholics in Brunei
Fr Arin Sugit, the bishop’s assistant at Our Lady of the Assumption Cathedral in the nation’s capital of Bandar Seri Begawan, explained that the majority of Catholics are migrants.
Jun 05, 2021
Fr Arin Sugit, the bishop’s assistant at Our Lady of the Assumption Cathedral in the nation’s capital of Bandar Seri Begawan, explained that the majority of Catholics are migrants.
Some 70 per cent of the diocese’s Catholics are migrant workers from the Philippines. Another 20 per cent are from other countries such as Indonesia, India and Malaysia. Only some 10 per cent are indigenous Bruneians, he said.
“We’re fortunate to have a substantial Filipino congregation, which makes our Church very lively,” reflected Bishop Sim. “They bring their faith, with popular pious devotions, and they enrich us and our faith very much.” Fr Sugit was ordained in 2008. The apostolic vicariate’s two other priests are Fr Paul Shie, ordained in 1999, and Fr Robert Leong, ordained in 2003.
Catholics are free to practise their faith within the church compounds and at home, but public displays of the faith are restrained.
For example, Fr Sugit said that some 5,000 to 6000 people attend Mass at Our Lady of the Assumption each Sunday.
Franciscan missionaries brought the Catholic faith to Brunei in 1587. Brunei became a separate apostolic vicariate, an ecclesiastical division, before becoming a diocese in 2004.
Before that, Brunei was part of the Diocese of Miri in Malaysia. Bishop Sim has also ordained a priest for Miri in 1989.
As a first step to separating Brunei as a diocese, Pope John Paul II made it an apostolic prefecture in 1997 and appointed Father Sim as its prefect apostolic.
His Church, Bishop Sim said, had “a humble beginning, and we have to move on to enrich our faith-based communities.” Bishop Sim, 69, became the first cardinal from Borneo Island. — ucanews.com
Total Comments:0