Sacred Heart Cathedral, Kota Kinabalu

Sacred Heart Cathedral is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu, which is Archbishop John Wong Soo Kau. It is located at the city of Kota Kinabalu in Sabah.HistoryIn early January 1903, Fr Henry van der Heyden first arrived in Jesselton. His aggressive policy of importing Chinese workers by the Chartered Company Government sudden flooded the town with the arrival of hundreds of Chinese immigrants. The mission was named Sacred Heart of Jesus in June 1903.The bulk of the early Catholic community was made up of poor Hakka farmers in a completely new land striving to adjust to all the harsh conditions of a new life. Surrounded by experience of much struggles and suffering in their daily lives, Fr Heyden thought of God’s compassionate love for His children in Borneo, and remembered that Jesus also suffered and died for them, which is possibly the reason the church was then named Sacred Heart.Sub-ParishChurch of Mary Immaculate, LuyangHistory as extracted from the book 100 years of Good NewsWith the congregation at the Cathedral growing so quickly after the 1970s, the parish has become too big to accommodate. Plans were then made to set up sub-parishes in the major suburbs of Kota Kinabalu. Construction of the first sub-parish St Simon Chapel (now known as St. Simon’s Church, currently a full parish of the Archdiocese itself since 2008) located in Likas district was completed in August 1984.The initiative for the second sub-parish came from the late Fr. Thomas Sham during his term as Rector of Sacred Heart Cathedral from 1988 to 1993. He took steps to draw up plans and raise funds for the construction of the Church of Mary Immaculate at Bukit Padang, in the suburb of Luyang. The Church was officiated and blessed by Bishop John Lee on 31 October 1993. The Church currently cater two Masses on weekends, the 6.00 P.M. Sunset Mass in Chinese on Saturdays and 9.00 A.M. Mass in English on Sundays.