KOTA KINABALU – Bishop Pedro Arigo of Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines, accompanied by 7 priests, 3 sisters and 3 church volunteers arrived at Kota Kinabalu 25 Feb  2014 for a four-day study tour. During his stay in Kota Kinabalu, he paid a courtesy call on Archbishop John Wong. The visitors were also able to participate in the ordination ceremony of Fr Michelly Kiun on Feb 26 at Sacred Heart Cathedral, Karamunsing.

KOTA KINABALU – Members of the Church building committee of St Catherine Laboure Church, Putatan (originally named as St Catherine of Siena) made a courtesy call on Archbishop John Wong at his office Feb 19.  The group includes Fr Fundes Motiung, rector of Stella Maris Church, assistant rector, Fr Tony Mojiwat, chairman of the building committee, Stephen Sondoh, Dr Tan Jun Kwan and other church’s consultants, and the contractor.

ROME, Feb 27, 2014: The Holy Father today conferred the title Knight of the Pontifical Equestrian Order of St Sylvester, Pope and Martyr, (one of the five Orders of Knighthood awarded directly by the Pope) on a Malaysian for his contributions to social communication.

Augustine Loorthusamy, the outgoing president of Signis (World Catholic Association for Communication), is the first Malaysian to receive this prestigious award from Pope Francis.

KOTA KINABALU (CS) – Over 700 Catholic women gathered to celebrate International Women’s Day (IWD) for the first time in Kota Kinabalu on 8 Mar 2014.

International Women’s Day, held globally on Mar 8 each year, celebrates the economic, political and social achievements of women in the past, present and future.  It is celebrated in many countries around the world. It is a day when women are recognized for their achievements without regard to divisions, whether national, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic or political. It is an occasion for looking back on past struggles and accomplishments, and more importantly, for looking ahead to the untapped potential and opportunities that await future generations of women.  The first IWD was held in 1911.

Catholics are being rather deliberately prodded toward frenzy by media coverage of Pope Francis’ desire for more effective pastoral care of those who are divorced and remarried.  Here is an excerpt from Dr Jeff Mirus’ brief examination on the pastoral-doctrinal issue:

“A high-ranking Churchman has emphasised that the status of divorced and remarried Catholics ‘should be looked at with a merciful eye’, which means changing the pastoral practice which bars couples in this ‘status’ from receiving Communion.

It was often the Popes who helped lead the renewal: Pius X introduced the idea of frequent communion, at a time when most Catholics were overly concerned with the idea of sin and so only went to communion once a year. Then, Pius XII restored the Easter Triduum – the Vigil, for instance, had been performed early on Holy Saturday morning and very few people took part. The vernacular also began to make itself felt and the practice grew up of reading the Scriptures at Mass in the local language – after they had been officially read in Latin during the Mass. Lay apostolates also began to appear, such as the Young Christian workers and the Legion of Mary etc. – showing new ways of “being Church”. Also, the 19th cent had also seen an upsurge of missionary movements, Mill Hill being one, and with this came the importance of the lay catechist. All this and more had begun to show the inadequacy of the Tridentine Church discipline and customs, when faced with the cultures of Asia, Africa and South America. New answers were needed to the questions thrown up by these and many other happenings – and the Council fathers set out to address them.