By Richard Chia
JOHOR — The 116th Plenary meeting of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei (CBCMSB) began with an address by the newly appointed Counselor to the Apostolic Nunciature in Malaysia and Timor-Leste, Monsignor Marcel Šmejkal.
Msgr Marcel, based in Dili, Timor-Leste was representing the Apostolic Nuncio to Malaysia, Archbishop Wojciech Zaluski who was away abroad. He introduced himself and gave his opening welcome via Google Meet. Each bishop in turn welcomed and invited him to visit their respective dioceses.
Cardinal William Goh, the Archbishop of Singapore and Cardinal Sebastian Francis, the Bishop of Penang, who participated in the election of Pope Leo XIV, both praised the well execution of the conclave voting process. Cardinal William described the election of Pope Leo “a miracle”, as he said “it is unexpected… It is the work of the Holy Spirit… is the hand of God”. Cardinal Sebastian added by describing “the Holy Spirit showed that 133 of the cardinals were very united … otherwise how is it possible to get a candidate for a pope within 48 hours”.
Archbishop Julian read out the letter from the Apostolic Nunciature to Malaysia announcing the Ad Limina visit to Rome scheduled for 18-23 May 2026. The last time the conference visited Rome was in February 2018, where they met Pope Francis. This visit will be a good opportunity for the bishops in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei to meet with Pope Leo XIV.
One of the key highlights of this plenary meeting is the focus on the implementation phase of the Synod of Bishops Final Document released on November 2024. On March 2025, the General Secretary of the Secretariat of the Synod, Cardinal Mario Grech, released the Accompaniment Process of the Implementation Phase of the Synod. In this announcement, a three years timeline were given, beginning with a celebration of the Jubilee of Synodal Team and Participatory Bodies on 24-26 October 2025.
CBCMSB will be represented by Monsignor Jude Miranda from the Diocese of Penang, Sr. Margarete Sta Maria and Mr Gregory Pravin both from the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur, who will participate in group work in plenary sessions, pilgrimage and passage through the Holy Door, an audience with the Holy Father and Holy Mass in St Peter’s Basilica presided by Pope Leo XIV.
Align with that, the Federation of Asian Bishops Conference (FABC) had formed a Commission for Synodality headed by Cardinal Pablo David, the FABC Vice-President, where Archbishop Julian Leow, the president of CBCMSB will represent the conference, supported by individual representatives from each diocese in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. The FABC Bishops’ Seminar for Synodality is scheduled to take place from 22-26 September 2025 in Bangkok.
Another coming event is the FABC XII Plenary Assembly scheduled for 22-28 June 2026 in Bali, Indonesia. This assembly will be attended by all the cardinals, presidents of all the episcopal conferences and bishop-delegates. The FABC plenary assembly is supposed to be held every four year, but was put on hold due to the Covid pandemic. It was last held in 2017 in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The conference decided that the current office bearers and presidents of the episcopal commissions be renewed for another two years are as follows:
Office Bearers 2026-2027:
President: Archbishop Julian Leow, Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur
Vice-President: Cardinal William Goh, Archbishop of Singapore
Treasurer: Bishop Bernard Paul, Bishop of Melaka-Johor
Episcopal Secretary: Bishop Richard Ng, Bishop of Miri
President, Catholic Bishops of Malaysia: Archbishop Simon Poh, Archbishop of Kuching.
Heads of Episcopal Commissions 2026-2027:
Biblical Commission: Bishop Richard Ng
Consecrated Life: Cardinal Sebastian Francis
Diocesan Priests and Seminaries: Bishop Richard Ng
Ecumenism and Inter-Religious: Archbishop Julian Leow
Family, Laity and Life (includes Charis Malaysia): Archbishop John Wong
Liturgy: Cardinal William Goh
Youth-Campus Ministry: Archbishop Simon Poh
New Evangelisation (includes Pontifical Mission Societies): Bishop Julius Gitom
Pastoral Healthcare: Bishop Cornelius Piong
Integral Human Development (includes Caritas Malaysia): Bishop Bernard Paul
Migrants, Itinerants & Victims of Trafficking: Bishop Bernard Paul
Creation Justice: Bishop Joseph Hii
Social Communications: Cardinal Sebastian Francis
Malaysian Catechetical Commission: Bishop Joseph Hii
Malaysian Catholic Education Council: Bishop Sebastian Francis
Each bishop then updated the conference about their respective episcopal commissions, past activities and future events. The plenary meeting concluded with a visit to St Pio’s Spirituality Centre in Ulu Tiram, where Rev Fr Joe Matthews and Rev Fr John Anandan hosted the bishops for an afternoon tea, and a tour of their facilities.
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