By Richard Chia
MAJODI, JOHOR — The Jubilee Year of Hope closed with the closing of the Holy Doors in Rome on the Feast of the Epiphany on 6 January 2026. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei met again for their biannual plenary meeting on 5-8 January 2026.
For this 117th plenary meeting, Cardinal William Goh, the Archbishop of Singapore and Cardinal Sebastian Francis, the Bishop of Penang were absent as they were called away to Rome to attend the Extraordinary Consistory of the College of Cardinals.
In his address to the conference, the Apostolic Nuncio to Malaysia, Archbishop Wojciech Załuski highlighted a letter from Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, the Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, on the anniversary of the dedication of the Lateran Basilica on 9 November. He reminded the bishops to commemorate this day in remembrance of all the saints, blessed and servants of God, and honour this day with initiatives in memory of these extraordinary disciples of Christ.
The focus of the 117th episcopal conference plenary meeting was on the coming Malaysia Pastoral Convention (MPC) scheduled to be held in Sibu, Sarawak on 9-13 September 2026, the Ad Limina visit by the episcopal conference to Vatican in May 2026, the endorsement to form two new episcopal regional commissions, and a regional team on the safeguarding for the protection of minors.
For the MPC, the Central Working Committee (CWC) headed by Monsignor Peter Ng and his team presented to the conference the overall plan beginning now until September 2026. This first ever national level pastoral convention will see the gathering of 850 attendees from the nine dioceses in Malaysia, three dioceses in Peninsular Malaysia, three dioceses from Sabah and three dioceses from Sarawak respectively. The breakdown are as follows: 250 participants from each of the regions of Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak, comprising of clergy, religious and laity, with another 50 invited guests and 50 volunteers.
The emphasis for this convention will be on the theme: Celebrating in a Spirit of Communion, Listening in a Spirit of Participation and Walking in a Spirit of Mission. It will also be a culmination of a 16-month long Journey of the Cross (Perjalanan SALIB) that began in Kota Kinabalu on 31 March – 6 April 2025, during the Malaysia Catholic Youth Day.
The CWC presented the prayer for the MPC and the remote preparation booklets to be given to all participants prior to their arrival in Sibu. Intense preparation is required by the individual participant, the parish and the diocese to ensure the pastoral discernment and thrust is achieved.
For the Ad Limina visit to Rome, the conference’s last visit was in February 2018. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Pope Francis’ ill health and his eventual demise, this five-yearly visit was postponed to May 2026. The episcopal conference of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei will be joining Pakistan, Laos, Bangladesh, and Myanmar for countries in Asia having its ad limina in the months of May and June 2026.
Two regional groups were endorsed at this plenary meeting. The regional commission for ecumenism and inter-religious dialogue and the regional commission for evangelisation. These regional groups are headed by a bishop president, with a regional coordinator, and will coordinate with the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conference (FABC) offices and the respective Dicasteries in Rome.
In their joint meeting with the Conference of Religious Major Superiors, the episcopal conference established a regional group for the safeguarding and protection of minors. Members of this group comprise one representative from each diocese, and one major religious superior from the four regions: Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak.
They will liaise closely with the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors and further develop the national safeguarding protocol in line with the Pontifical Commission’s Universal Guidelines Framework on Safeguarding.
