Sebastian Francis, DSPN, is the 5th and current

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

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

of the

Diocese of Penang The Roman Catholic Diocese of Penang is situated in the northern region of Malaysia covering 5 states, namely Penang, Perlis, Kedah, Perak and Kelantan. It was created on 25 February 1955 together with the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur. It is und ...

. He is also currently president of the

Catholic Bishops' Conference of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei (C.B.C.M.S.B.) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic bishops of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. The B.C.M.S.B reviews the position of the Church in Malaysia, Si ...

. He was appointed as Bishop of Penang by the Vatican on 7 July 2012. The

Cathedral of the Holy Spirit The Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, alternatively known as the ''St. Esprit Cathedral'' (Turkish: ''Saint Esprit Kilisesi''), located on Cumhuriyet Avenue, 127/A, in the quarter of Pangaltı in Şişli district, the former Harbiye, between Taksi ...

in Green Lane,

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Ma ...

is the seat of Bishop Francis, and the cathedral for the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Penang The Roman Catholic Diocese of Penang is situated in the northern region of Malaysia covering 5 states, namely Penang, Perlis, Kedah, Perak and Kelantan. It was created on 25 February 1955 together with the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur. It is un ...

Early life

Sebastian Francis was born on 11 November 1951 in Johor Bahru,

Johor Johor (; ), also spelled as Johore, is a state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. Johor has land borders with the Malaysian states of Pahang to the north and Malacca and Negeri Sembilan to the northwest. Johor shares maritime b ...

which was then a part of the

Federation of Malaya The Federation of Malaya ( ms, Persekutuan Tanah Melayu; Jawi: ) was a federation of what previously had been British Malaya comprising eleven states (nine Malay states and two of the British Straits Settlements, Penang and Malacca)''See'' ...

. From the year 1967 to 1970, he joined the St. Francis Xavier's Minor Seminary in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

, before enrolling into

College General The College General ( ms, Seminari Tinggi Katolik) is a Roman Catholic interdiocesan seminary located in Tanjung Bungah, Penang, Malaysia. The college's foundation can be traced back to the 1665 establishment of the Seminary of Saint Joseph in Ay ...

from 1972 to 1976. He was ordained a priest for the

Diocese of Malacca-Johor In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associ ...

on 28 July 1977. From 1981 to 1983, Francis obtained a licentiate in Dogmatic Theology from the University of St. Thomas Aquinas in

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. He also studied at the

Maryknoll School of Theology Maryknoll is a name shared by a number of related Catholic organizations, including the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers (also known as the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America or the Maryknoll Society), the Maryknoll Sisters, and the Mary ...

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where he obtained a degree in Justice and Peace in 1991. He has also served as a Spiritual Director and formator in College General from 1991 to 1998. In the year 2003, Francis was appointed as

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ...

for the Diocese of Malacca-Johor, a position which he served until his appointment as the Bishop of Penang in 2012.

Appointment as Bishop

On 7 July 2012, the Vatican appointed Francis as the 5th Bishop of Penang. He succeeds Bishop Emeritus

Antony Selvanayagam Antony Selvanayagam is the Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Penang, Malaysia. He was elected by Pope John Paul II as the 4th bishop of Penang after the transfer of his predecessor, Bishop Anthony Soter Fernandez to the Archdiocese of Kuala L ...

, whose resignation was accepted by the Pope. The episcopal consecration of Francis was held on 20 August 2012 at St. Anne's Church in

Bukit Mertajam Bukit Mertajam ( Jawi:بوكيت مرتاجم) is the administrative centre of the city of Seberang Perai in Penang, Malaysia. It also serves as the seat of the Central Seberang Perai District. , Bukit Mertajam (core) contains a total of 13,0 ...

. His principal consecrator was the

Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur ( la, Archidioecesis Kuala Lumpurensis) is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Malaysia. It was erected as the Diocese of Kuala Lumpur by Pope Pius ...

, Archbishop Emeritus Murphy Pakiam. His co-consecrators were Bishop Emeritus

, his predecessor and Bishop

Paul Tan Chee Ing Rt. Rev. Monsignor Paul Tan Chee Ing, (5 April 1940 –) S.J., S.T.L., PhD, D.D., commonly referred to as Bishop Paul Tan, is the second Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Malacca-Johor. He was also the president of the Catholic Bishops' Con ...

from his former Diocese of Malacca-Johor. The event was witnessed by 10,000 Catholics and attended by the

Chief Minister of Penang The Chief Minister of Penang is the head of government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous regio ...

Lim Guan Eng Lim Guan Eng (; born 8 December 1960) is a Malaysian politician and accountant from the Democratic Action Party (DAP), a component party of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Bagan, Member of ...

. The motto of his episcopacy is "Fiat Voluntas Tua" ("Thy Will be Done" in English).

Honours

In 2016, the Penang State Governor, Yang di-Pertua Negeri Pulau Pinang TYT Tun Dato Seri Utama Haji Abdul Rahman Haji Abbas conferred the ''Darjah Setia Pangkuan Negeri (DSPN)'' award, which carries the title ''Datuk'' to Bishop Sebastian Francis.

External links

Rt Rev Sebastian Francis

The Bishop

Diocese of Penang

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Francis, Sebastian 1951 births Living people People from Johor Malaysian people of Indian descent 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Malaysia Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas alumni Maryknoll Seminary alumni

Early life

Appointment as Bishop

Honours

See also

External links

References