Malaysian Catholics Urged to ‘Put out into the Deep’ at National Pastoral Convention 2026

Malaysian Catholics were urged to embrace renewal, deepen their faith and journey together under the guidance of the Holy Spirit as the Malaysian Pastoral Convention 2026 (MPC2026) concluded in Sibu, a city in Sarawak on the island of Borneo, with a call to become a more missionary Church.

Cardinal Sebastian Francis, Bishop of Penang, delivered the challenge during the Missioning Mass that marked the conclusion of the five-day convention. About 1,000 Catholics joined a procession from Kingwood Hotel to Sacred Heart Cathedral for the celebration.

Sibu diocese serves a culturally diverse Catholic population that includes indigenous communities as well as Chinese and other ethnic groups.

In his homily, Cardinal Francis called Catholics to move beyond familiar ways of being Church and allow the Holy Spirit to transform their relationships, processes and structures.

“Are we ready to move forward to a deeper place? Are we ready to allow the Holy Spirit to transform us, our relationship, our process, our bond and our structure?” he asked.

He said renewal needed to begin with a deeper understanding of Baptism, which was not simply an event in the past but a mystery that Catholics continued to live throughout their lives.

“Baptism is a mystery that we continue to enter into and experience throughout our lives,” he said.

Cardinal Francis also highlighted the cultural and linguistic diversity of the Malaysian Catholic Church, which brings together people from different backgrounds and life experiences.

Such diversity, he said, should become a source of communion rather than division.

He connected this journey with synodality, saying Catholics had been learning to listen to one another, particularly to voices that could easily be overlooked. Listening, he added, was not simply about finding quick answers but about discerning where God was leading the Church.

“The Holy Spirit is leading us to repentance, to unity, to reconciliation,” he said.

The cardinal also called Catholics to confront the wounds and divisions of the past, saying the Church could not move confidently into the future while remaining bound by past failures.

“We need forgiveness. We need freedom to become a Church which is called and led by the Holy Spirit,” he said.

He stressed that renewal did not mean individual dioceses or communities pursuing separate paths. Instead, Catholics were called to journey together as one Malaysian Church, in communion with the Church in Asia and the universal Church.

Drawing on the Gospel account of Jesus calling his disciples to put out into deeper waters, Cardinal Francis urged Catholics not to fear the challenges ahead.

“Do not be afraid to enter the deeper waters. Walk the path to the deep place,” he said.

He encouraged the faithful to place their trust in Christ rather than relying solely on their own plans, strength and wisdom. The deeper waters, he said, could lead to an “abundant catch” for the Church in Malaysia.

“I summon all of us to put out into the deep and be ready to receive an abundant catch, for the Church in Malaysia, for the Church in Asia, for the Universal Church,” he said.

Speaking to Radio Veritas Asia, Leonard Soyze, a youth representative from Assumption Church in the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur, said, “Let us trailblaze a path for generations to come. A roadmap for us to move on meaningfully,” he said.

He said the success of MPC2026 would ultimately be measured by what participants carried home and put into practice.

“If MPC2026 is to have meaning for generations to come, mission must remain firmly on the Church’s agenda, not as another programme, but as the way the Church lives, serves and reaches out to a changing society,” he said.

Soyze noted that Malaysia’s nine dioceses had different histories and traditions but belonged to one Catholic family.

“The challenge now is to listen, walk forward together, stronger in unity, richer in our diversity and, above all, more determined to be a missionary Church that brings Christ to the world beyond its own walls,” he said.