The Right Reverend Datuk Seri Sebastian Francis has been announced as Malaysia’s second Roman Catholic cardinal by the Pope, Pop Francis.
According to Vatican News, the 72-year-old Catholic Bishops Conference of Malaysia-Singapore-Brunei president is among 21 new cardinals who will be appointed in a ceremony at the Vatican on September 30 (Saturday).
“I would like to announce that next September 30, I will hold a Consistory for the appointment of new Cardinals.”
“Where they come from expresses the universality of the Church, which continues to proclaim the merciful love of God to all people of the earth,” shared Pope Francis.
Malaysia’s cardinal-elect Sebastian Francis was ordained as a priest for the diocese of Malacca-Johor on July 28, 1977. After several assignments, he studied in Rome, receiving a licentiate in Dogmatic Theology from the Angelicum.
Following that, several other pastoral assignments, he received a Law degree in 1991 and subsequently went on to Maryknoll School of Theology in New York.
On July 7, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him as Bishop of Penang, and he was ordained on August 20 with 10,000 Catholics in attendance. Since January 1, 2017, he has been president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.
You can check out Pope Francis’s announcement of cardinal-elect Sebastian Francis here.
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