By Catholic Sabah / Kota Kinabalu Archdiocesan SOCCOM
Jan 21 2021
ARCHBISHOP John Wong was born on 6 June 1968 in Sandakan. He was ordained priest on January 21, 1999. As a priest, he has served four years at the cathedral parish.
Later, after returning from his studies in Rome where he obtained a licentiate in spirituality, he became the director of the aspirants at the Catholic Diocesan Centre and vice-director of the Initiation Year of St Peter’s College Karamunsing.
He has also served as the spiritual adviser to the Bible Commission from 2006 to 2007. Up until his episcopal ordination on 1 October 2010, he was serving as the spiritual adviser to the Youth Commission, exercising his priestly ministry at the cathedral and its subparish Church of Mary Immaculate, especially among the Chinese-speaking parishioners.
He was 42 at the time of his episcopal ordination. This made him one of the youngest candidates ever to have become a bishop in the Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Region. He was installed second archbishop of Kota Kinabalu on 24 January 2013.
The prelate’s motto is based on the three theological virtues of Christian life – faith (iman), love (kasih) and hope (harapan). It is a reminder to him to see that the faithful would live, grow and persevere in faith to the end, nourishing it with the word of God, working through charity and abounding in hope, rooted in the sacraments and rich traditions of the Catholic Church and at the same time, fulfilling the Mission and Vision of the Archdiocese.
On his 22nd sacerdotal anniversary, at this time of ‘staying at home’ where physical celebration is not allowed due to COVID-19, many of the parishioners have taken their heartfelt greetings to the prelate via social media.
In the Catholic Sabah Facebook page, parishioners have wished him courage, wisdom, strength and good health to continue his mission as the good shepherd of the Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu.
