The Archdiocesan Catholic Centre
When Jesselton became a vicariate in 1952 from a prefecture, the Jesselton seminary became first a vicariate centre under Bishops James Buis and Peter Chung, and later in 1976, a diocesan centre under Bishop Simon Fung. The diocesan centre’s relocation to Taman Hiburan Penampang was mooted by Bp Fung but he did not live to see its realisation. It was his successor Bp John Lee who saw to its completion. There, it comprised three blocks:
Block 1: Formerly Simon’s House, it was completed in December 1986 at the cost of RM632,805.00. It received its Occupation Certificate in February 1987. Blessed by Bp Lee and opened by YB Bernard Dompok on 9 Jan 1988, it housed the bishop’s office, the diocesan secretariat, finance office, youth/campus ministry office, liturgical commission office, the reception office and the Aspirants Formation House.
Block 2: Formerly Catholic Pastoral Centre of John’s House, it was completed in 1993 and housed the offices of the various commissions such as Catechetical, Christian Family Life, Education, Human Development, and Social Communication. Other offices included the Archives, Catholic Sabah, Electronic Data Entry, Kadazan Bible/Liturgy Translation, Resource Centre, meeting and lecture rooms, and a conference hall.
Block 3: known as the Catholic Service Centre set up in 1993, it comprised the Chinese Catechetical Office, Catholic Sabah Chinese Section, Lu Magazine, general printing services and in 2002, the Books Distribution Centre.
Tel: 088-712416 Fax: 088-713435
Email: catholicsc56@gmail.com
The Archdiocesan Centre transferred to its permanent place at Jalan Sang Kancil Tiga Karamunsing in 2021. The place has a long history traced back to 1938 where it sited the Kung Ming Primary School.
Kung Ming Primary School was founded by the Chinese Catholic Young Men Society headed by Catechist Thomas Lee in 1938, on a one-acre piece of mission land on the outskirts of the city, in Karamunsing. After the war, the school administration was handed over to the vicariate which renamed it Shan Tao Primary School in 1963.
The idea of building the Catholic Centre there was first mooted in 1996 when it was certain that the primary school would be relocating to Kepayan Ridge by Dec 2000. The new centre was necessary because the two buildings at the Catholic Diocesan Centre in Penampang have been declared unsafe after cracks were detected in several walls of the buildings. However, it took several years before the new centre could be materialised.
During the interim period, the premises were used by the Campus Ministry Office as a venue for organising activities for students of higher learning institutes in the diocese. It also housed the media centre of the Daughters of St Paul from 2011 to 2013 while the sisters’ house was under construction.
The launching of the building project officiated jointly by Archbishop John Wong and Tan Sri Bernard Dompok was held at the Sacred Heart Parish Centre on 22 July 2017. Fundraising for the RM9.6 million building project then started. Demolition of the old buildings and earthworks began on 29 Nov 2017.
Piling began on 15 May 2018 and construction began in earnest on Aug 1.
The project took some 17 months to complete – 15 Jan 2020. The certificate of occupation was issued on 1 Sept 2020. Although both the office and soft furnishings were already in place by Dec 2020, the Internet and Wifi connections could only be set up in early 2021. Moreover, due to the Movement Control Movement (MCO) imposed by the government to curb the spread of the coronavirus COVID 19 pandemic (since March 2020), the final stage of connecting the buildings to the main water supply was disrupted.
The total cost was RM9,537,118.73 and to date (12 Nov 2022) the church has raised RM9,171,326.85 for the project.
The centre comprises two blocks: a three-level office block and a two-level block that houses a 300-capacity auditorium, an archive, a resource library and data office. The office block consists of the archbishop’s office and its support offices, a prayer room, the Catholic bookstore, Catholic Sabah office, offices of the various commissions and 10 meeting/seminar/counselling rooms including an AV room.
The CAC began operations on its new premises on 2 June 2021.
The CAC blessing and launching was jointly officiated by Abp Wojciech Zaluski, apostolic nuncio to Malaysia, and Abp Wong on 12 Nov 2022.
Currently, the CAC is served by 29 full-time staff and some volunteers for the commissions.
Tel: 088-203300, 276006, 211722
Fax: 088-203292 Email: diosec@gmail.com
Office hours: Mon-Fri 8:30 am – 12:30 pm, 1:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Sat 8:30 am – 11:30 am
Closed on First Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays