Archbishops Leow, Poh elected to Malaysia-Singapore-Brunei bishops’ conference leadership

Kuala Lumpur Archbishop Julian Leow has been elected president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Malaysia-Singapore-Brunei (CBCMSB), and Kuching Archbishop Simon Poh has been elected president of the Catholic Bishops of Malaysia.

Their election to the conference’s leadership is the highlight of the 112th Plenary Assembly of the CBCMSB, where bishops gathered at Majodi from July 9 to 14.

Cardinal William Goh was reelected as the conference’s vice president.

The transition from the previous to the new office bearers will take place on August 31.

Here is the complete list of the CBCMSB officers, which is set for two years:

• President, CBCMSB – Archbishop Julian Leow

• Vice President – Cardinal William Goh

• Episcopal Secretary – Bishop Richard Ng

• Treasurer – Bishop Bernard Paul

• President, Catholic Bishops of Malaysia – Archbishop Simon Poh

Episcopal Commission Heads:

• Biblical Commission – Bishop Richard Ng

• Consecrated Life – Bishop Sebastian Francis

• Diocesan Priests and Seminaries – Bishop Richard Ng

• Ecumenism and Inter-Religious – Archbishop Julian Leow. Assisted by Archbishop Simon Poh

• Family, Laity and Life – Archbishop John Wong

• Youth-Campus Ministry – Archbishop Simon Poh

• Liturgy – Cardinal William Goh

• New Evangelisation (incl. PMS) – Bishop Julius Gitom

• Pastoral Healthcare – Bishop Cornelius Piong

• Migrants, Itinerants & Victims of Trafficking – Bishop Bernard Paul

• Integral Human Development – Bishop Bernard Paul

• Creation Justice – Bishop Joseph Hii

• Social Communications – Bishop Sebastian Francis

• Malaysian Catechetical Commission – Bishop Joseph Hii

• Malaysian Catholic Education Council – Bishop Sebastian Francis

The plenary assembly also tackled major subjects that directly impact the local Church in the region.

Among the topics discussed are the recent translation of Liturgical materials, the output of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) survey on Synodal Formation efforts at diocesan and conference levels, and the feedback to the Universal Guidelines Framework sent out by the Commission on Safeguarding of Minors from Rome.

The bishops noted the culmination of the Malaysian Church’s journey in the upcoming Malaysia Pastoral Convention in 2026, which will bring together local synodal processes from 2022 to 2024.

The conference also decided to integrate CHARIS into the Family, Laity, & Life Commission, with only one bishop appointed president.

Also presented in the plenary assembly was the renaming the Commission on Caritas Malaysia to the Commission for Integral Human Development and the Commission on Ecumenism & Inter-Faith to Commission on Ecumenism & Inter-Religious. - Luke Godoy