Roman Catholic Diocese of Penang

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Diocese of Penang
*Dioecesis Pinangensis*
Statistics
Country:	Malaysia
Rite:	Latin
Area:	56,000 km²
Population: Total: Catholics:	7,000,000 (2007) 75,000 (1.5%)
Cathedral:	Cathedral Of The Holy Spirit Green Lane
Ordinaries
Bishop:	Antony Selvanayagam

The Diocese Of Penang is situated up north in Malaysia. The diocese comprises 5 states Perlis, Kedah, Penang, Perak and Kelantan. The diocese was erected on 25 February 1955. The diocese has 28 parishes (1 in Perlis, 3 in Kedah, 9 in Penang, 14 in Perak and 1 in Kelantan) and 77 chapels. The famous St. Anne's Church, Bukit Mertajam is one of the parishes in the diocese.

1 History
2 List of bishops and archbishops of Penang
3 List of cathedrals of Penang
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] History

The first catholic priests settled down in Malacca in the 1511. 200 years later on 1786, Captain Francis Light together with a few friends landed on Penang. They decided to build a church there. They constructed a church and it was completed on August 1787. The church was blessed on the Feast Of The Assumption(15 August). That was the first church in Penang named the Church Of The Assumption. A few years later, another priest settled down in Penang and used the College General place as their church. This was the second church in Penang named Church Of The Immaculate Conception. More churches was setted up. In 1940s, the World War 2 hit Penang. Some churches were closed all the time except for Sunday Masses. After World War 2, there was in need of setting up a diocese. Then on the 25 February 1955, the Diocese Of Penang was setted up together the Archdiocese Of Kuala Lumpur. Bishop Francis Chan and Archbishop Dominic Vendargon are the first Malaysian bishops to be ordained. Bishop Francis Chan was the first bishop of Penang. In 1967, due to the demise of Bishop Francis Chan, Bishop Gregory Yong was appointed as the second bishop of Penang. In 1977, he was appointed to the Archbishop Of Singapore post. Bishop Anthony Soter Fernandex was ordained and became the third bishop of the diocese. However in 1983, he was appointed as Archbishop of the Archdiocese in Kuala Lumpur. The present bishop is Bishop Antony Selvanayagam, who was ordained in 1980 and has served the Diocese Of Penang since 1983. In the 1990s, the number of parishes in the diocese are 34. The number of priests are shrinking. So Bishop Antony Selvanayagam made a decision that the 4 churches located in Georgetown, Penang to emerged as 1 parish named City Parish. Likewise in Perak, the 2 churches located in Taiping also emerged as one parish named the Taiping Catholic Church. The number of parishes were brought down to 28. In 2001, the main administration centre of the diocese Pusat Keuskupan Katolik was opened by Bishop Antony Selvanayagam. The following year in 2002, the third St. Anne's Church, Bukit Mertajam together with the parish centre, domus and administration office were opened on The Feast Of St. Anne(26 July) by the then Apostolic Delegate. Also on that year, Bishop Antony Selvanayagam decide to remove the cathedral status in the Church Of The Assumption to the now Cathedral Of The Holy Spirit, after the church was no longer a parish. The Church Of The Assumption had failed to meet the diocese's demands and most of the diocese's events are held outside of that church. The Rite Of Dedication for the Cathedral Of The Holy Spirit was held on 20 January 2003. In 2005, the Diocese Of Penang celebrated it's 50th Anniversary.