• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Effie Caldarola
          • John Garvey
          • Father Ed Dougherty, M.M.
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
  • CR Radio
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
Pope Francis greets Bishop Cornelius Sim, apostolic vicar of Brunei, during his "ad limina" visit to the Vatican in this Feb. 8, 2018, file photo. Bishop Sim was among 13 new cardinals named by Pope Francis Oct. 25. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

Brunei cardinal-designate’s church is ‘periphery within the periphery’

November 22, 2020
By Catholic News Service
Catholic News Service
Filed Under: 2020 Consistory, Feature, News, Vatican, World News

Editor’s note: Each day leading up to the Nov. 28 consistory in Rome that will create 13 new cardinals, the Catholic Review will offer a profile of one of the new cardinals. The profiles will appear in the order in which Pope Francis announced the appointments.

Asia’s cardinal-designate from Brunei said the church in his country is “the periphery within the periphery.”

Cardinal-designate Cornelius Sim of Brunei told ucanews.com he found it “very significant” that Pope Francis is appointing people from remote areas.

“I believe that the institutional church in many large countries, to be honest, is not giving a good witness (to faith),” Cardinal-designate Sim told ucanews.com. “I don’t want to be judgmental, but it is always about controversies and conservative-liberal tensions that you read. It seems like the church is a joyless institution, and people do not live in any sense of vibrant attachment to the faith. We are all about arguments, beating one another, and trying to push antithetical views to one another. That’s not a very pleasant picture of the church.

Pope Francis greets Bishop Cornelius Sim, apostolic vicar of Brunei, during his “ad limina” visit to the Vatican in this Feb. 8, 2018, file photo. Bishop Sim was among 13 new cardinals named by Pope Francis Oct. 25. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

“I believe the church lives in the peripheries, the faith is alive in the smaller countries,” he added. “I think Pope Francis acknowledges that. As part of the universal church, the church in Brunei contributes to building a peaceful society here. I think the pope recognizes these things.”

Cardinal-designate Sim and three priests take care of Catholics in one of the few absolute Muslim monarchies left in the world. They work in an apostolic vicariate, a church jurisdiction in mission regions where the Latin-rite Catholic hierarchy is not yet fully organized. The vicariate has about 21,000 Catholics, mostly migrants.

Father Arin Sugit, the bishop’s assistant at Our Lady of the Assumption Cathedral in the nation’s capital, explained to ucanews.com that about 70% of the diocese’s Catholics are migrant workers from the Philippines. Another 20% are from other countries such as Indonesia, India and Malaysia. Only about 10% are indigenous Bruneians, he said.

The cardinal-designate said migrants “are the life of the church.”

“For example, Filipinos are accustomed to music, dance and generally have a very contagious worship style. So, they add that to the church,” he said.

Cardinal-designate Sim, 69, chuckled when he told ucanews.com: “I cannot say my parents were extremely pious. But my mother always prayed a lot, always. My father was not very pious. We lived very near the church. But he would arrive for Mass when the Gospel is read and leave about the Communion time. However, they always impressed on us that we were Catholics.”

He has two engineering degrees — one earned in Kuala Lumpur and one in Scotland.

“When I left school, I also stopped practicing my faith,” he told ucanews.com. “For many years I didn’t practice my faith very well, until I was 30 years old.”

“After my father died in 1979, I began to appreciate … that life is not just about accumulating wealth. But it has to do with something more than what we see here. What happens when you go from here? These questions kept on bothering me until 1981.

“After spending a year in Europe working, I came back, and God sent a priest to see me and talk to me about these things. He brought me back to the church, and I started going to church and got involved in the parish council and youth ministry. In 1985, after five years of coming back to the church, I left my job mainly because, as an engineer, you ask many questions, and simple answers do not always satisfy you.”

He accepted an offer from his bishop to send him to study theology in the United States and graduated with a degree in theology from the Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, in 1988.

In 2004, Cardinal-designate Sim was named bishop of Brunei. He noted the seven priorities in the vicariate: “Bible literacy, adult faith formation, youth, promotion of vocations, witnessing to Christ, social welfare for people, especially migrants, and focus on family.”

“It is really about building a strong Christian community around these principles,” he said.

Brunei is a country of about 2,200 square miles — slightly larger than the U.S. state of Delaware of the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island — located entirely on the island of Borneo, which is also home to parts of Malaysia and Indonesia.

One of the richest nations in the world, Brunei also has one of the lowest populations in Asia — just 429,000 people. Christians form some 10% of the population; half of them are Catholics. Malay is the official language, but English and Chinese are spoken widely.

The laws in Brunei allow Christians to practice their faith inside homes and churches, and the cardinal-designate said “there is not much ostentatious display outside of the church and outside of the home.”

“Our faith is not a private thing, but our faith is also not to be displayed inappropriately. We have to understand each other’s sensitivities; certain inappropriate displays and expressions may provoke reactions. We need to be sensitive.”

He said churches are packed on Sundays and feast days like Christmas, which is a public holiday.

“On Christmas Day, for example, many Masses are celebrated in packed churches, and carols are sung. These things are not controversial. You can ring your church bell, too, no problem. When the Mass is on, we can also use the public address system outside the church — of course, at a reasonable level. Being sensitive is important; always remember others also have their own faith.

“The real emphasis of evangelization is giving witness to Christ,” he added. “The best witness to Christ is to lead a life of simplicity with a commitment to Christ’s teachings. The love for our neighbors is the biggest evangelization tool available to us. We do not engage in public rallies and colorful processions. That is not our style. Our way is much quieter, the way of St. Francis of Assisi. He is our model.”

2020 Consistory

At Mass with new cardinals, pope warns against worldliness

Pope creates 13 new cardinals, including Washington archbishop

Italian cardinal-designate says he’s simply a pastor

Cardinal-designate sees appointment as testament to God’s word

Pope picks Italian-American diplomat, migrant minister, as new cardinal

Mexican cardinal-designate credited for building up indigenous church

Copyright © 2020 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

Print Print

Primary Sidebar

Catholic News Service

Catholic News Service is a leading agency for religious news. Its mission is to report fully, fairly and freely on the involvement of the church in the world today.

View all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • Pathfinders: Five Archdiocese of Baltimore women who made history
  • Movie Review: ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods’
  • RADIO INTERVIEW: Dining with the Saints
  • Sister Elizabeth Ellen Kane, O.S.F., dies at 81
  • Legendary communist-era priest, Father Blachnicki, was murdered, Polish authorities confirm

| Latest Local News |

Sister Joan Cooper, O.S.F., dies at 94

Pathfinders: Five Archdiocese of Baltimore women who made history

Sister Elizabeth Ellen Kane, O.S.F., dies at 81

| Latest World News |

Federal judge’s pending ruling could block abortion drug from nationwide sale

New Orleans Auxiliary Bishop Cheri dies at 71; archbishop thanks God ‘for his life, ministry’

Confession, indulgences express and strengthen communion, speakers say

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Federal judge’s pending ruling could block abortion drug from nationwide sale
  • Papa Francisco: Sin la fuerza del Espíritu Santo, la evangelización es publicidad vacía
  • New Orleans Auxiliary Bishop Cheri dies at 71; archbishop thanks God ‘for his life, ministry’
  • Confession, indulgences express and strengthen communion, speakers say
  • Pro-life groups seek commitments on federal abortion limits from 2024 GOP contenders
  • Pope: Without power of Holy Spirit, evangelization is empty advertising
  • West Virginia parishes, people help Ukrainians find safe haven in Mountain State
  • Rosary project supplies ‘long-range, heart-changing weapons’ to Ukraine
  • Bishop calls ‘reproductive justice’ lecture series with abortion doula ‘scandal,’ ‘unworthy’ of Notre Dame university

Search

Membership

Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2023 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED