Julian Leow Beng Kim (born 3 January 1964) 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

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 ...

who has been serving as archbishop of the

Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur (; Malay: ''Keuskupan Agung Kuala Lumpur''; Tamil: ''கோலாலம்பூர் மறைமாவட்டம்''; Mandarin: ''吉隆坡总教区'') is an ecclesiastical territory or dioce ...

since 2014. He also serves as president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.

Early life

Julian Leow Beng Kim was born on 3 January 1964 in

Seremban Seremban (Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Somban'') is a city in the Seremban District and the capital of the state of Negeri Sembilan in Peninsular Malaysia. The city's administration is run by the Seremban Municipal Council, Seremban City Council. ...

Negeri Sembilan Negeri Sembilan (, Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Nogoghi Sombilan'', ''Nismilan''), historically spelled as Negri Sembilan, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state in Malaysia which lies on the Peninsular Malaysia#Other features, wes ...

, into an ethnic

Malaysian Chinese Malaysian Chinese, Chinese Malaysians, or Sino-Malaysians are Malaysians, Malaysian citizens of Chinese people, Chinese ethnicity. They form the second-largest ethnic group in Malaysia, after the Malaysian Malays, Malay majority, and , const ...

family of

Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...

descent. He pursued his undergraduate studies in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and graduated with a Bachelor of Building from the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949. The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, in 1989. Responding to a call to the priesthood, he entered College General in

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 ...

in 1994, where he undertook his ecclesiastical studies until 2001. On 20 April 2002, he was ordained a priest for the

by Archbishop Anthony Soter Fernandez (now

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

). Leow furthered his theological education in

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, ...

, obtaining a Licentiate in Church History from the

Pontifical Gregorian University Pontifical Gregorian University (; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana), is a private university, private pontifical university in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as a part of the Roman College, founded in 1551 by Ignatius of Loyo ...

. Upon returning to Malaysia, he served at College General as Dean of Studies and Formator from 2009 until his appointment as archbishop.

Appointment as archbishop

On 3 July 2014,

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 ...

appointed Leow as the 4th archbishop of Kuala Lumpur. He succeeds Archbishop Emeritus Murphy Pakiam, whose resignation was accepted by the Pope on 13 December 2013 upon the reaching the age limit of 75 according to the Canon Law. Leow was consecrated and installed archbishop on 6 October 2014, in the presence of the

Apostolic Nuncio An apostolic nuncio (; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international organization. A nuncio is ...

to Malaysia, Archbishop Joseph Marino at the Church of the Holy Family in

Kajang Kajang is a city in Hulu Langat District, Selangor, Malaysia, located southeast of Kuala Lumpur. Kajang, along with much of Hulu Langat District, is governed by the Kajang Municipal Council. Kajang town is located on the eastern banks of the L ...

Selangor Selangor ( ; ), also known by the Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 states of Malaysia. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the e ...

. Some 12,000 came from around the country to witness the consecration. His principal consecrator was the Archbishop of Kuching, Most Rev.

Dato' Datuk (or its variant Dato or Datu) is a Malay honorific title commonly used in Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia, as well as a traditional title by Minangkabau people in West Sumatra, Indonesia. Use of the title various between locations, in some ...

John Ha Tiong Hock Malay titles#State titles, Dato John Ha Tiong Hock (born 5 March 1947) is a Malaysian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kuching, Archbishop of Kuching, from 2003 to 2017. Previously, he serve ...

. His co-consecrators were Archbishop Emeritus Murphy Pakiam and Cardinal Anthony Soter Fernandez. The motto for Leow's episcopacy is "Integrity and Tenderness". Controversy erupted on the day of Leow's ordination to the episcopacy regarding the inclusion of a 'tree of all religions' in his episcopal coat of arms. An article published by conservative Roman Catholic news portal Rorate Caeli reported that a local group of Catholic faithful had been deeply scandalized by the symbol, which could be suggestive of the heresy of

indifferentism Indifferentism is the belief that no one religion or philosophy is superior to another. Political indifferentism describes the policy of a state that treats all the religions within its borders as being on an equal footing before the law of the c ...

References

External links

Catholic-Hierarchy.org

Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur

Our Archbishop
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leow, Julian Beng Kim Roman Catholic archbishops of Kuala Lumpur 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Malaysia Bishops appointed by Pope Francis 1964 births Living people People from Negeri Sembilan Malaysian people of Chinese descent Malaysian people of Cantonese descent University of New South Wales alumni Pontifical Gregorian University alumni

Early life

Appointment as archbishop

See also

References

External links