Roman Catholic Diocese of Melaka–Johor

Diocese of Malacca Johore

*Dioecesis Melakana-Giohorana*
Diocese of Malacca Johore; Dioecesis Melakana-Giohorana
	Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Location
Country	Malaysia
Ecclesiastical province	Kuala Lumpur
Metropolitan	Kuala Lumpur
Statistics
Area	20,364 km2 (7,863 sq mi)
Population; - Total; - Catholics (including non-members)	(as of 2013); 3,643,000; 38,970 (1.2%)
Parishes	23
Information
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	4 February 1558
Cathedral	Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Johor Bahru
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop
Metropolitan Archbishop	Julian Leow Beng Kim (2014–current)
Vicar General	Peter Ng; Michael Mannayagam
Bishops emeritus	James Chan Soon Cheong Bishop Emeritus (1973–2001)
Website
	https://www.mjdiocese.my/

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Malacca Johore (Latin: Dioecesis Melakana-Giohorana) is a diocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in the Ecclesiastical province of Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. It is located in southern region of Peninsular Malaysia, administering Melaka and Johor states.

The mother church is the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in Johor Bahru, Johor(e); there is also a former Cathedral, now Church of St. Peter, in Melaka.

History[]

Established on 4 February 1558 as the Diocese of Malacca–Johor(e) Diocese of Malacca^[1]^[2] on territory split off from the then Diocese of Goa, within the Portuguese colonial empire.
It became suffragan (other being Roman Catholic Diocese of Cochin) to the promoted Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Goa^[3]
Lost territory on 23 January 1576 to establish the Roman Catholic Diocese of Macau 澳門(continental China)
Lost territory in 1712 to establish the Apostolic Prefecture of Islands of the Indian Ocean
1838: Suppressed, its territory being joined with Siam
Restored on 10 September 1841, albeit again with pre-diocesan status and exempt, as the Apostolic Vicariate of Western Siam, on territory split off from the then Apostolic Vicariate of Siam^[4]
Promoted on 19 August 1888 as the [1] Diocese of Malacca^[1]^[2]
Promoted on 19 September 1953 as (non-metropolitan) Archdiocese of Malacca
25 February 1955: Promoted as Metropolitan Archdiocese of Malacca-Singapore, having lost territories to establish the Dioceses of Kuala Lumpur (now its Metropolitan) and of Penang
On 18 December 1972, the diocese was demoted and renamed as the Diocese of Malacca-Johor, when the Archdiocese of Malacca-Singapore was split into the Archdiocese of Singapore and this diocese. Rt. Rev James Chan was appointed as the first Bishop.
On 27 May 1985, its name was changed to the Diocese of Melaka-Johor. The diocese is suffragan of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur.
On 13 February 2003, Rt. Rev Paul Tan Chee Ing, SJ was appointed as the second Bishop of the Melaka-Johor Diocese.
On 19 November 2015, the Vatican appointed Rt. Rev Anthony Bernard Paul as the third Bishop of this Diocese.^[5]

Ordinaries[]

Suffragan bishops of the (First) Diocese of Malacca

Jorge de Santa Luzia (1558–1576)
João Ribeiro Gaio (1589 – death 1601)
Gonçalvo (Gonzalo) da Silva (1613–1632), later Bishop of Ceuta (Spain) (1632.09.06 – 1645) and Apostolic Prefect of Marocco (Morocco) (1632.09.06 – death 1649.02.16)
Gregório dos Anjos (? – 1677.08.30 not possessed), later Bishop of São Luís do Maranhão (Brazil) (1677.08.30 – death 1689.05.11)
Antonio a S. Theresia (1691-????)
? Emmanuel a S. Antonio (1701–1738)
Antonius de Castro (3 Sep 1738 – death 9 Aug 1743)
Miguel de Bulhões e Souza (28 Mar 1746 – 8 Dec 1747), later Coadjutor Bishop of Belém do Pará (Brazil) (8 Dec 1747 – 18 May 1748), succeeding as Bishop of Belém do Pará (18 May 1748 – 24 Mar 1760), finally Bishop of Leiria (Portugal) (24 Mar 1760 – death 14 Sep 1779)
Gerardus a S. Joseph (19 Feb 1748 – death 1760.01)
Alexandre da Sagrada Familia Ferreira da Silva (16 Dec 1782 – 14 Feb 1785), later Bishop of São Paulo de Loanda (Angola) (14 Feb 1785 – 23 Nov 1787), Bishop of Angra (Portugal) (18 Dec 1815 – death 23 Apr 1818)
Francisco de São Damazo Abreu Vieira (29 Oct 1804 – 15 Mar 1815), later Metropolitan Archbishop of São Salvador da Bahia (Brazil) (15 Mar 1815 – 18 Nov 1816)

Apostolic Vicars of Malacca-Singapore

Jean-Paul-Hilaire-Michel Courvezy, Paris Foreign Missions Society (M.E.P.) (10 Sep 1841 – 7 Sep 1844), Titular Bishop of Bitha (5 Apr 1832 – death 1 May 1857); previously Coadjutor Apostolic Vicar of Siam (Thailand) (5 Apr 1832 – 30 Mar 1834) succeeded as Apostolic Vicar of Siam (30 Mar 1834 – 10 Sep 1841)
Jean-Baptiste Boucho (3 Jun 1845 – 6 Mar 1871), Titular Bishop of Attalia (10 Jun 1845 – 6 Mar 1871)
Michel-Esther Le Turdu (6 Mar 1871 – death 10 May 1877), Titular Bishop of Corycus (23 Jan 1871 – 10 May 1877), succeeding as former Coadjutor Apostolic Vicar of Western Siam (23 Jan 1871 – 6 Mar 1871)
Edouard Gasnier (28 Mar 1878 – 19 Aug 1888 see below), Titular Bishop of Eucarpia (28 Mar 1878 – 19 Aug 1888)

Suffragan Bishops of the (Second) Diocese of Malacca

Edouard Gasnier (19 Aug 1888 – death 8 Apr 1896)
René-Michel-Marie Fée (21 Jul 1896 – death 20 Jan 1904)
Marie-Luc-Alphonse-Emile Barillon (10 May 1904 – 10 Jan 1933), emeritate as Titular Bishop of Thaumacus (10 Jan 1933 – 27 Jul 1935)
Adrien Pierre Devals (27 Nov 1933 – death 17 Jan 1945)
Michel Olçomendy (21 Jan 1947 – 19 Sep 1953 see below)

Archbishop of Malacca

Michel Olçomendy (see above 19 Sep 1953 – 25 Feb 1955 see below)

Metropolitan Archbishop of Malacca-Singapore

Michel Olçomendy (see above 25 Feb 1955 – 18 Dec 1972), also President of Catholic Bishops' Conference of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei (1964–1969); later Archbishop of Singapore (Singapore) (18 Dec 1972 – 1976)

Suffragan Bishop of Malacca-Johor

James Chan Soon Cheong (18 Dec 1972 – 1985 see below)

Suffragan Bishops of Melaka-Johor

James Chan Soon Cheong (see above 1985 – retired 10 Dec 2001)
Paul Tan Chee Ing (13 Feb 2003 – retired 19 Nov 2015), also President of Catholic Bishops' Conference of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei (1 Jan 2011 – 2012.08)
(12 January 2016 – present)