Dato John Ha Tiong Hock (born 5 March 1947) is a Malaysian

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. He served as the

Archbishop of Kuching The Archdiocese of Kuching (; Malay: ''Keuskupan Agung Kuching''; Mandarin: ''古晋总教区'') is a Metropolitan Latin archbishopric of the Catholic Church in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia, covering the western part of the state, up from Lund ...

, from 2003 to 2017. Previously, he served as an auxiliary bishop of the same archdiocese from 1998 to 2003.

Early life and education

Ha was born on 5 March 1947 in

Kuching Kuching ( , ), officially the City of Kuching, is the capital and the most populous city in the States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Sarawak in Malaysia. It is also the capital of Kuching Division. The city is on the Sarawak Ri ...

Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...

. He studied at St Joseph's secondary school. At that time, the late Brother Albinus and the late Brother Hilary were instrumental in inspiring him to join the priesthood.

Ordination and ministry

Ha first joined the religious order as a De La Salle brother. However, he decided to join

College General The College General () is a Catholic interdiocesan seminary located at Tanjong Bungah in George Town, Penang, Malaysia. The college's foundation can be traced back to the 1665 establishment of the Seminary of Saint Joseph in Ayuthia which was ...

Penang Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. Th ...

and was ordained to the priesthood on 14 December 1972. He was later sent to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, Italy to study at the

Pontifical Biblical Institute The Pontifical Biblical Institute (also known as Biblicum) is a research and postgraduate teaching institution specialised in biblical and ancient Near Eastern studies located in Rome. Founded in 1909 by Pope Pius X, it is an institution of the ...

. He then obtained a Licentiate in Sacred Scripture and later with Doctorate in Sacred Scripture. After a two-year pastoral work back in the Archdiocese of Kuching, Ha was appointed to teach Bible at College General. After the St. Peter's College seminary was set up in Kuching, he was appointed as its second rector, from 1986 to 1991. He was commissioned to run the Bible Year and served as the rector of the St. Joseph's Cathedral, Kuching. In 1997, he was appointed back to the seminary again.

Episcopal and ministry

Auxiliary bishop of Kuching

On 17 January 1998,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

appointed Ha as

auxiliary bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

of Kuching and

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

Canapium Canapium was a Roman Empire, Roman–Berbers, Berber civitas, town in the Roman province, province of Africa (Roman province), Africa Proconsolare. Its stone ruins are located near Henchir-El-Casbath, in the region of Mornag, Tunisia. The city wa ...

. He received his

episcopal consecration A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...

on 6 June 1998 from Archbishop

Peter Chung Hoan Ting Peter Chung Hoan Ting (born 10 September 1928) was the metropolitan archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kuching, Malaysia from 1976 to 2003, the first archbishop of the diocese. Chung entered the diocesan minor seminary of the D ...

with Cardinal

Anthony Soter Fernandez Anthony Soter Fernandez (22 April 1932 – 28 October 2020) was a Malaysian prelate of the Catholic Church who was the first Malaysian cardinal. He was Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur from 1983 to 2003. Biography Anthony Soter Fernandez was born ...

and Archbishop

Gregory Yong Gregory Yong Sooi Ngean (20 May 1925 – 28 June 2008) was a Singaporean Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Singapore from 1977 to 2000. Early life Yong was born into a Malaysian Chinese family of Hakka descent in Taiping, a ...

, serving as

co-consecrators A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churche ...

Archbishop of Kuching

On 21 June 2003, Ha was appointed

to succeed Archbishop

who resigned upon reaching canonical age. He was installed on 16 July 2003. During his tenure, he was the president of the Malaysia-Singapore-Brunei Episcopal Biblical Commission. After several years of serving as archbishop, Ha revealed that he was increasingly feeling his age after it gradually showed symptoms. Thus, he saw the need for an auxiliary bishop. He took a considered decision to write a letter to Fernardo Cardinal Filoni, requesting the appointment of an auxiliary bishop. Fr.

Simon Peter Poh Hoon Seng Dato Simon Peter Poh Hoon Seng (born 15 April 1963) is a Malaysian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has been serving as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Kuching since 2017. He served as an auxiliary bishop of the same archdiocese f ...

was appointed and consecrated in September 2015. On 4 March 2017, Ha tendered his resignation from the archbishop's office, deliberately coinciding with his seventieth birthday. He took into consideration age 70 as the perfect age for a person to retire. The following day,

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

accepted Ha's resignation and appointed Auxiliary Bishop

as his successor. Ha officially handed over the archdiocese to Poh on the night of 20 March 2017. On the same day, Poh was also installed as the third archbishop of the archdiocese.

Honour

Honour of Malaysia

* : **

MY-SAR Order of the Star of Sarawak - 3 ribbon PSBS

Commander of the

Most Exalted Order of the Star of Sarawak The ''Darjah Utama Yang Amat Mulia Bintang Sarawak'' (Most Exalted Order of the Star of Sarawak) is the highest state order in the state of Sarawak. It is conferred to those who rendered excellent service towards the development of the state of ...

(PSBS) – Dato (2012)

References

External links

Catholic-Hierarchy.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ha, John, Tiong Hock 1947 births 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Malaysia Malaysian people of Hakka descent Bishops appointed by Pope John Paul II Living people 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Malaysia People from Kuching Malaysian Roman Catholic archbishops Commanders of the Most Exalted Order of the Star of Sarawak