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Kudat
Catholic Mission & Its History
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In
the early annals of the Catholic Church
in north Borneo, Kudat was already
described as an outstation of Sandakan
as far back as 1900. In the early
century, there were very few priests and
Kudat was very hard to reach.
But in 1920, Fr. Stotter, rector of
Sandakan, made serious business of Kudat
as an outstation. He made 207 baptisms
in Kudat in the next 10 years.
In 1922, the old mission site, at the
Mission Road was bought for $1000.00.
In 1925, Fr.Stotter erected a large barn
like building here, with a large room
down below, which served as a room for
the visiting priests. This was the
beginning of St. Peter's School.
In 1031, Fr. Sint became the first
resident priest of Kudat.
He got an assistant priest named, Fr.
McCarthy.
In 1934 the old church was built.
Fr.Sint remained in Kudat until 1937
when Fr. Henry Murphy succeeded him. Fr.
H. Murphy worked so hard that he had to
leave Borneo in 1939, a broken man.
During Japanese Occupation, the Japs
captured the priests working in Kudat
namely Fr. Theurl and Fr. Grent. In
August 1945, Fr. Theurl was killed by
the Japs, together with Mgr. Wachter and
the other Austrian priests and brother.
Kudat Church was used as a prison by the
Japs then.
In its 80 years' existence, Kudat has 43
priests, amongst others are Fr. Schoor,
Fr. J.Hill, Fr. Yong, Fr.S.Fung,
Fr. JohnTsung, Fr. Peter Ma, Fr. Hurley,
Fr. L.J. Purcell,
Fr. Luis Kessel , Fr. J.Heuschen and Fr.
Nicholas Ong.
One of the well known priests, Fr.
Thomas Sham, served Kudat for 13 years
(1950 -1968).
Fr. Thomas Sham is quite a builder;
having built the new rectory in 1958 ,
the Twin Towers in 1959, the Loudes'
Grotto and the Sacred Heart Church in
Tajau in I960. He also extended the
schools both in Tajau and Taipa. His
keen business mind enabled him to
purchase 11 acres of land at Tanjung
Kapor, which is the present site of all
schools, the rectory, the convent, St.
Peter's Church, teachers' quarters, Fr.
de Wit Memorial Hall and St. Peter's
Kindergarten. Besides that, Fr. Sham
also ran huge fun-fair to raise money.
The priest who was responsible for the
handsome and solid fencing around the
mission is none other than Fr. Yong.
In 1973, Fr. Van Hasselt build the new
church, our Lady Immaculate, Taipa.
In 1981, Fr.de Wit became the rector of
the parish church of Kudat. He built the
new St. Peter's Church in 1981 and the
new convent in 1982. Fr. se Wit also
beautified the Kudat Church with a
complete set of new benches and a new
altar, completed with a beautifully
carved tabernacle from Hong Kong And a
huge Irish Cross. He also built the new
bell tower. 28th August 1983 was the
saddest day in Kudat Parish when Fr. de
Wit was brutally murdered. May God grant
Him eternal rest! Our next priest was
Fr. Felix Chung. He made a fortnightly
visit to Kudat.
After Him came Fr. John Van der Salm,
Fr. Cosmas Lee,
Fr. Charles Chew, Fr. David Sham, Fr.
Martin Wong an Fr. Francis Tsen.
Our present rector is Fr. Tobias Chi who
hailed from Sandakan in November 1999.
He was with the Kudat Catholics all
through the Jubilee Year 2000. Under
him,
a lot of activities were carried such as
the celebration of
St. Peter's and St. Paul's day in July
2000, in which took place a successful
exhibition of church history and parish
activities. All the Catholic schools in
Kudat also exhibited their history and
activities on that day .
Last year St. Peter's Parish Church was
also one of the eight pilgrimage centers
in Sabah. Thus our parishioners were
also kept busy visiting and being
visited. Our youths, catechists and
women also took part in their respective
Jubilee Celebrations in Kota Kinabalu.
It has been a fruitful year for all of
us spiritually.
By Agatha Lai
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