June 2007 Print

The majority of the Malaysians are Muslim, and the government is officially Muslim. Being a country with a racially and religiously diverse population, they tolerate the practice of other religions, but they will not allow any proselytizing of Muslims. On the other hand, there are strict penalties for anyone who adopts the Muslim religion.

Malaysian Bishops' Recent Warning to Catholics Regarding Conversion to Islam

Below is a document issued by the Malaysian Bishops that was published in August 2005 advising the faithful about the implications of converting to Islam:

If you convert to Islam, there are important changes in your legal status, and what you can and cannot do. Your conversion to Islam will be registered with the Religious Department and the National Registration Department, both of which are computerized so access to this information is available throughout the country. Under Shariah enactments of most of the 13 States of Malaysia:

 

1) Conversion back to your former religion is either a) not allowed under the law, or b) a criminal offence, which means that you may be fined, detained, or imprisoned under most State Islamic laws.

2) If you are under 18 years of age, you require your parents' permission to convert to Islam.

3) Your identity card will record your conversion to Islam. Therefore, even if you are no longer practicing Islam, you may be fined, whipped, detained, or imprisoned for violation of Shariah laws, such as praying in Church, eating in public during fasting month, khalwat, etc.

4) You cannot marry a non-Muslim. If you decide to divorce and attempt to convert out of Islam, you will lose custody of your children because they are Muslims.

5) Upon death, your non-Muslim relatives will lose their rights to your property, money, etc., that you want to leave to them. The corpse of a convert to Islam will be taken away from his or her non-Muslim family for Islamic rites and burial even if you have not been a practicing Muslim for many years.

6) In the event that your spouse converts to Islam, you may have no right to either children or your spouse's property.

 

We know that certain Christians who convert to Islam, for whatever reasons, are not aware of or do not consider seriously the implications of such conversion. Hence, the need to inform you. By this, we are neither against Islam nor the freedom of religion, which is guaranteed for all Malaysians in Article 11 of our Constitution, which gives the right to an individual to choose freely his or her religion. But to choose correctly, you need to know clearly what you choose and the consequences of your choice.

 

Archbishop Murphy Pakiam, Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur

 

Bishop Anthony Selvanayagam, Bishop of Penang

 

Bishop Paul Tan, Bishop of Malacca-Johor

The Current Apostolate of the Society in Malaysia

Twice every month a priest from the Society's priory in Singapore flies to Kuala Lumpur, the capital city in Malaysia, where 40-50 parishioners attend Mass in a converted office space on the third floor of a commercial building. After ascending the narrow, white-tiled stairway, one enters a small, beautifully decorated chapel. Catechism is given each Sunday to the adults, and a class of Apologetics is given one Saturday evening per month. Most local Catholics heeded the warnings of their bishop and did not venture to visit or attend our Mass. But recently a group of university students have started attending the Masses, giving new growth to the mission. The students are from East Malaysia and are studying in the capital city. Being vastly outnumbered by the Muslims, they have formed Catholic youth groups whereby they can support each other in the faith while living far away from their more Catholic region. One group leader discovered the Society through personal research and the Society's web page on the Internet. She succeeded in bringing five or so other students, who now come regularly. Among them is a group leader from a different University who has already brought a medical student to the Mass the last two Sundays. He himself is a convert of only six months from Buddhism and is seriously considering becoming a priest. These students requested that the ceremonies omitted in the Novus Ordo rite of Baptism be supplied and that they be conditionally confirmed by a Society bishop. They are full of questions about the crisis of the Church and are zealous in defending the faith.

The Current Apostolate of the Society in Singapore

The Society's mission in Singapore began in 1987 when Fr. Simonot offered the first Mass there. It was formerly served firstly from the Philippines and later from Sri Lanka. But when the priory in Sri Lanka closed it was moved to Singapore to be the new District Headquarters of Asia. Presently the District Superior and two other Society priests reside there.

Property being very expensive in Singapore it has been difficult to buy a church for the 125 souls who attend the two Masses each Sunday, as well as the one to three daily Masses. Hence our small chapel is hidden away on the second floor of a commercial building near a popular shopping district. We are praying we will be able to have a more proper and visible home for the true Mass in Singapore soon. Five catechism classes are given each Saturday, adult catechism is given each week and a class on Sacred Scripture is given twice a month. Particularly well attended is the weekly Novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Succor that has been begun recently. It is the most popular devotion for the Catholics in Singapore after the Rosary. Ten to fifteen thousand Catholics and even many non-Catholics attend this devotion in a Novus Ordo Redemptorist church on Novena Square in Singapore. Traffic is said to be "crazy" each Saturday in the area surrounding Novena Square. This large public display of devotion to our Lady and the favors given through this novena give even today a respect for the Catholic faith. Our priests have a steady stream of adult converts. Currently a Buddhist has asked for instruction after being scandalized by the Novus Ordo RCIA instruction he had been receiving for several years. When he was told that Martin Luther ought to be canonized, he gave up attending the New Mass and soon afterwards was brought to our Mass by one of our parishioners. He is overjoyed to see that true Catholicism exists.

On November 24th a talk was given in a Novus Ordo parish within walking distance to our priory on "The Traditionalists and Traditionalism," and more specifically on the "illicit status of the Society of St. Pius X and the dangers it poses" given by a civil lawyer with a degree in canon law. In 1998, this same speaker disrupted a talk given by Bishop Fellay on "The crisis in the Catholic Church." One of our priests attended, and during the question and answer period, he was given an opportunity to defend the Society. The Novus Ordo faithful complimented the Society on its beautiful chapel, sermons, which do not only address the love of neighbor, and the priestly formation of its members. The Society of St. Pius X, according to this group of Novus Ordo Catholics, gives to its priests a formation superior to that given to the diocesan priests. Most seemed to be afraid of opposing the local bishop but were very interested to have the opportunity to speak with a Society priest after the talk.

SSPX First Official Mission Trip to Sabah

Greater religious freedom is allowed in East Malaysia, on the island of Borneo. It was there that Fr. Daniel Couture, the District Superior of SSPX Asia, conducted a mission trip to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, which is in the northern part of Borneo island, on November 24-27, 2006. This is the first official visit by an SSPX priest to Sabah, which is home to a significant Catholic population, most of whom are natives of the land. The purpose of the trip was for Fr. Couture to give a series of conferences on Modernism, the Virtue of Faith, the Crisis in the Church, Fatima, and the history of SSPX. The turnout was unexpectedly good for a first-time visit, with about 25 people, ranging from 20-year-olds to those in their 60's. Most of the attendees had never attended a Tridentine Mass, nor heard or read about the issues that Father explained. There was also a great interest in the books that Father brought with him, and they were quickly snapped up.

Mass was held in the same place as the seminar, in a rented college hall on Saturday evening and Sunday morning. Attendance was good on both days, being more or less about 25 people. Providentially, the choir master of Kuala Lumpur Sacred Heart SSPX Chapel was in Kota Kinabalu due to a missed flight, and so was able to conduct the schola for Sunday's high Mass. The singing was beautifully done, even though on a last-minute basis. The regular altar-server of Kuala Lumpur served Father at all the masses.

The sermon on Sunday was on the Four Last Things, with a short explanation of the Brown Scapular. After Mass, there was a mass enrollment of every attendee in the Brown Scapular, from a boy of 12 to an old man of about 80. There were about 20 people who enrolled that day.

All in all, the mission was a fruitful one. May God see fit to inspire a traditionalist movement in this part of the world. Deo Gratias!

 

From Christendom, No.10. Christendom is a publication of DICI, the press bureau of the Society of Saint Pius X (www.dici.org).