College General at 360: A living MEP legacy in Indonesia forming priests for today’s Church
From September 29 to October 1, 2025, generations of cardinals, archbishops, priests, bishops, religious, and seminarians from across Asia returned to the place where their journeys began, College General, Penang. The three-day celebration dubbed CG360, themed “Remembering with Gratitude, Fidelity, and Hope,” marked the seminary’s 360th anniversary, honouring one of the oldest and most enduring institutions of priestly formation in Asia.
More than 250 participants, from Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Singapore, and Malaysia, gathered at Mariophile, Penang, to remember the faith and sacrifice that built what many still call the College of Martyrs.
The celebration also saw the presence of Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Wojciech Zaluski, Rev Fr Jean L’Hour, MEP (aged 92), Emeritus Bishop John Ha, and many others whose lives are intertwined with the seminary’s story.
Founded in 1665 in Ayutthaya, Siam, College General endured persecution, war, and exile, relocating at least four times - to Chanthaburi within Thailand, then to Hon Dat in Vietnam, and subsequently to Pondicherry, a former French colony in southern India, before settling in Penang in 1809.
Established by the Fathers of the Paris Foreign Missions Society (MEP), the seminary has, for centuries, formed missionaries who brought the Gospel to distant lands and paid dearly for it, some with their lives. Since 1970, it has been entrusted to local ecclesial authorities, a transition that has kept alive its missionary spirit in Asian soil.
The CG360 celebration opened on the Feast of the Archangels, a fitting reminder that its first name was Seminary of the Holy Angels to better capture the sanctity of its mission. In his homily, Archbishop Julian Leow expressed deep gratitude for the many martyrs and missionaries whose faith and courage laid the foundations of the Malaysian Church.
Fidelity: An Act of Love
On the second day, the focus turned to fidelity. Bishop Bernard Paul spoke passionately about fidelity as a daily act of love, “not a feeling, but a choice made every day in perseverance and humility.” Rev Fr Vincent Senechal, MEP Superior General, recalled how the MEP Society established seminaries to form priests who would “learn languages, enter cultures, and walk beside the people of God.”
Cardinal William Goh of Singapore added that fidelity is not merely about fulfilling duties but becoming a living witness of Christ. “Our celibacy, obedience, and joy must reveal a Christ who still walks among His people,” he said, urging priests and seminarians to rediscover the heart of their vocation.
Cardinal Sebestian: ‘Be Dreamers of the Kingdom’
The final day, focused on hope, was led by Cardinal Sebestian Francis and Bishop of Penang, who called on the gathered alumni to become “dreamers of the Kingdom.” Cardinal Sebestian, who is also the president of the institution, spoke of College General not as an institution frozen in time, but as a living story still being written. “The mission is unfinished,” he said. “Hope keeps it alive, hope that we will continue to form priests who serve, listen, and love.”
Alumni Speak
Among those whose lives were shaped by College General’s legacy is former seminarian Kenneth De Souza. “When I first arrived at this seminary on the hill in 1991,” he recalled, “I was struck by its quiet strength, the history, the brotherhood, and the sense that we were part of something timeless,” he told Radio Veritas Asia.
For De Souza, life in formation was far from easy, yet deeply formative. Community life, he added, was what truly shaped him. “It was in the laughter at meals, the evening rosaries, the shared struggles, that’s where fraternity became real.”
He remembers one figure vividly: Msgr. James Gnanapragasam, his former rector and scripture lecturer. “He made the Word of God come alive. As a leader, he was firm yet compassionate, a true shepherd.”
Though De Souza eventually discerned a different path, his years at College General left an indelible mark. “I may not have become a priest, but the seminary formed the person I am, a husband, a father, and a lay servant in the Church serving in the RCIA Ministry. It taught me to move from the head to the heart, to see life through the eyes of faith.”
Echoing a similar sentiment, another former seminarian, Hilary Patric Narcis, who entered College General in 1979, said that everyone who joined the seminary had experienced “a calling of some sort, a quiet stirring that led us to say yes.” “To be a seminarian at College General,” he said, “was like standing on the shoulders of giants. To be formed in a place built on the witness of martyrs is both a privilege and a challenge; it calls you to live with the same courage and conviction.” Though he eventually left seminary life, Hilary believes the formation never left him.
For Ashvin Andrew Xavier, a first-year theology student, the story of the martyrs is a living call that shapes his daily formation. “Their courage was not only in dying for the faith, but in the way they lived it, with fidelity, simplicity, and love,” he reflected.
Gratitude to MEP Fathers
In his closing address, Rev Fr Innas Muthu, Rector of College General, expressed profound gratitude to the MEP Fathers, local bishops, and benefactors who have sustained the seminary’s mission through the centuries. “We stand today inspired by saint-martyrs he said. “Our task is to continue their work with the same zeal, to be faithful stewards of this great legacy.”
As the final hymn rose through the hall, the refrain “We rise, we rise…” echoed once more, not merely as a song, but as a prayer, a promise, and a call.
For 360 years, College General has stood as a testament to faith that survives persecution, adapts to time, and continues to form hearts for service. Its story, written in blood, sweat, and grace, remains a living chapter in the unfolding mission of the Church in Asia.
