John Ha Tiong Hock

His Grace Dato' John Ha Tiong Hock P.S.B.S.
Archbishop Emeritus of Kuching
Church	Roman Catholic
Archdiocese	Kuching
Appointed	21 June 2003
Installed	16 July 2003
Term ended	4 March 2017
Predecessor	Peter Chung Hoan Ting
Successor	Simon Peter Poh Hoon Seng
Orders
Ordination	14 December 1972
Consecration	6 June 1998
Personal details
Born	(1947-03-05) 5 March 1947 (age 74) Kuching, Crown Colony of Sarawak, British Empire
Nationality	Malaysian
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Previous post(s)	Auxiliary Bishop of Kuching (1998–2003) Titular Bishop of Canapium (1998–2003)
Alma mater	College General, Penang Pontifical Biblical Institute, Rome
Motto	Verbum caro factum
Coat of arms

Styles of John Ha Tiong Hock
Reference style	His Grace
Spoken style	Your Grace
Religious style	Archbishop Emeritus

John Ha Tiong Hock (born 5 March 1947) is a Malaysian prelate of the Catholic Church, and was Archbishop of Kuching, from 2003 to 2017. Before being appointed, he served as auxiliary bishop of the same diocese from 1998.

Early life and education[]

Ha was born on 5 March 1947 in Kuching, Sarawak. He studied at St Joseph's secondary school. At that time, the late Brother Albinus and the late Brother Hilary were instrumental in inspiring him to join the priesthood.^[1]

Ordination and ministry[]

Ha first joined the religious order as a De La Salle brother.^[1] However, he decided to join College General in Penang and was ordained to the priesthood on 14 December 1972. He was later sent to Rome, Italy to study at the Pontifical Biblical Institute. He then obtained a Licentiate in Sacred Scripture and later with Doctorate in Sacred Scripture.^[2]

After a two-year pastoral work back in the Archdiocese of Kuching, Ha was appointed to teach Bible at College General. After the St. Peter's College seminary was set up in Kuching, he was appointed as its second rector, from 1986 to 1991. He was commissioned to run the Bible Year and served as the rector of the St. Joseph's Cathedral, Kuching. In 1997, he was appointed back to the seminary again.^[2]

Episcopal and ministry[]

Auxiliary bishop of Kuching[]

On 17 January 1998, Pope John Paul II appointed Ha as auxiliary bishop of Kuching and titular bishop of Canapium. He received his episcopal consecration on 6 June 1998 from Archbishop Peter Chung Hoan Ting with Cardinal Anthony Soter Fernandez and Archbishop Gregory Yong, serving as co-consecrators.^[2]

Archbishop of Kuching[]

On 21 June 2003, Ha was appointed Archbishop of Kuching to succeed Archbishop Peter Chung Hoan Ting who resigned upon reaching canonical age. He was installed on 16 July 2003.^[3] During his tenure, he was the president of the Malaysia-Singapore-Brunei Episcopal Biblical Commission.^[4][2]

On 5 March 2017, Pope Francis accepted Ha's resignation from the pastoral governance for early retirement.^[5] He handed over the diocese to his auxiliary bishop, Simon Peter Poh Hoon Seng.^[6]

See also[]

• Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kuching

References[]

External links[]

• Catholic-Hierarchy.org ^{[self-published]}