St Peter’s to hold ground-breaking for new church building

THE Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kuching, the Most Revd Simon Poh, will preside over the blessing and ground-breaking for the new St Peter’s Church Padungan at 2.30pm today (Oct 20).

Set to be a prominent landmark in Kuching, the new Gothic building will have pointed spires, ogival arches, flying buttresses, ribbed vaults, rose windows, stained glass, special floor tiles, and a bell tower.

Rev Fr Vincent Chin, who has been serving as the fourth rector since 2001, explained in an interview that it is necessary to build a new church as the foundation of the existing building is giving way.

When a huge monsoon drain was built on the grounds of St Peter’s as part of the city’s flood mitigation plan, the water table in the area went down significantly. As a result, the bako timber pilings started to rot, affecting the foundation supporting the heart of the church.

Chin, who has background in architecture, said to be effective, bako timber pilings need to be underwater. Cracks are visible at sections of the ceiling near the columns inside the church even now.

On the new church’s Gothic design, Chin shared that when he first sought approval from then Archbishop of Kuching, the Most Revd Datuk John Ha, to build a new church, he specified it must first and foremost look like a church, citing the old St Joseph’s Cathedral in Kuching, a Gothic church, as an example.

Six architects who are parishioners were tasked to design a Gothic church with estimated cost. Six different designs with different costs were displayed on the church’s notice board for a couple of months for parishioners to choose their new church and the design selected by the majority was the one to be built.

The new church will certainly be impressive when completed in four years. Fully air-conditioned, it will seat more than a 1,000 worshippers – double the current capacity. A day chapel at the back will be used for daily mass and to celebrate mass for fewer than 200.

The masterplan for the new church includes a big church hall for the parish and school activities and two hostel blocks.

An eight-storey hostel block will house boarding students while a four-storey hostel will be for faith formation programmes.

Included in the masterplan are the current columbarium, parish centre, rectory, convent and school.

Chin was quick to add that the church is more than just a building.

“The people make the church. Worshipping in a church strengthens faith so that the faithful can go out and preach the good news. The new church will provide a safe and comfortable place for the growing community to worship in,” he explained.

Designed by Architect Design Practice, the new St Peter’s Church will be built by Pembena Emas Sdn Bhd.

Rich history

The seeds for the St Peter’s were sown in 1937 when Monsignor Aloysius Hopfgartner, Prefect Apostolic of Sarawak, bought seven acres of swampland at the Padungan area and rented a house in the vicinity to start a school to grow the local church by setting up a second parish.

The Franciscan Sisters under Mother Sebastian first accepted unwanted girls or orphans from the Chinese community, teaching home craft and simple religious truths, as the Chinese regarded education as inconsequential for those destined to serve in the home.

In 1940, a new school and a convent next to the parish were built. Not long after the school started, World War II broke out. The Japanese landed in Kuching on Christmas Eve in 1941.

 

Japanese Occupation

A few days before the Japanese landed in Kuching, the church’s second rector, Rev Fr Peter Aichner, took the sisters and orphans from the convent to Siniawan to shelter from the bombings until Feb 22, 1942.

In December 1941, the Japanese took over the convent and school to be used as a centre for war casualties and internment of European civilians.

According to Sarawak Tourism Federation Heritage Development Committee chairman Datuk Lim Kian Hock, based on the book ‘In A Fair Ground’ by the Rt Revd Peter Howes of the Anglican Church in Sarawak and Brunei, who was with the first group of European prisoners of war taken by the Japanese, the internees were held at Padungan Mission House for about four months and then transferred by lorry to Batu Lintang Punjabi Camp on July 14, 1942.

On Aug 15, 1945, during the Feast of Assumption, Emperor Hirohito surrendered. With the war over, the Church repossessed its property. The school reopened in 1946 with three little sisters and Mother Cecilia as Superior.

 

Building a church

Hopfgartner planned and started to build the church in 1949. However, he suffered a stroke while inspecting the church building and died on May 15 before it was completed on Dec 18, 1949.

Monsignor John Vos, MHM, appointed Prefect Apostolic, blessed and opened the church dedicated to St Peter, the Apostle.

Archbishop Emeritus Dato Sri Peter Chung in his message in the Golden Jubilee of St Peter’s Church booklet said when first built, the church was deemed too big for the few villagers in the area.

Pastorally, it was looked after by the priests of St Joseph’s Cathedral with the assistant rector, Rev Fr Peter Aichner, taking care of St Peter’s Padungan until his transfer to Dalat.

Growth of the Parish

When the church had grown sufficiently, it was made a parish with Rev Fr Francis Hulbosch, MHM, appointed as its first rector in 1959.

Hulbosch built a small wooden presbytery in front of the church and resided there until 1965 when he fell sick and returned to Holland.

He built the Padungan Catholic Kindergarten and a new block of classrooms for St Theresa’s Primary School in 1962 to provide formal education for girls. It became the largest school complex for girls in Borneo.

With the parish community growing rapidly, the church was extended by 12 feet towards the front in 1963 while a chapel was built in the convent for the sisters in 1964. Two new wings were added to the church building in 1965.

Hulbosch died on June 15, 1972.

 

The people’s priest

Aichner returned as the second rector of St Peter Padungan in 1965 after serving in Dalat, Bintulu, Serian, Bau, and Sri Aman.

In his brief autobiography, he said the Catholics were mostly Chinese of different dialects with some Dayaks working in Kuching.

Under Aichner’s pastoral care, the parish community continued to grow. Instead of extending the church further, a new church at Kenyalang Park was built in 1970.

Upon its completion on Nov 30, 1972, Rev Fr Datuk Lawrence Chua was appointed the first rector of the third parish in Kuching.

A chapel was built in Bintawa fishing village in 1979 with Aichner celebrating mass there once a month.

A multipurpose parish hall with four meeting rooms, a badminton court, kitchenette, and washrooms was added in 1987. A parish council with various committees was also set up.

Following the Second Vatican Council, mass started to be celebrated in vernacular languages instead of Latin. In St Peter’s, Aichner started celebrating mass in English.

The Golden Jubilee booklet of St Peter’s stated, “It would not be an exaggeration to associate the growth of St Peter’s Padungan with Fr Aichner’s great care and concern for the sick.”

He visited the sick at the Sarawak General Hospital every day, except Sundays, even when he was frail in health, winning the affection of both Christians and non-Christians alike.

Aichner died in his sleep on Aug 6, 1995, after serving for 57 years as a missionary. More than 5,000 turned up for his funeral in Kuching.

 

Family as foundation

In 1995, Ha was appointed the third rector of St Peter’s and served until 2000.

He focused pastoral care on the family unit, giving greater attention to youths and children, believing strongly in the Christian family as the foundation of the parish and church.

Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults in English, Malay, and Chinese were introduced with annual holiday camps for children. A group of lay people continued Aichner’s legacy of visiting the sick at the hospital while a catechist visited and gave regular instruction to Catholic factory workers in Bintawa.

In 1999, St Peter’s Padungan was renovated and extended as the belian posts supporting the church building had rotted at the base, with leaking at parts of the roof and asbestos walls giving way.

On completion, the church was dedicated by Chung during the church’s golden jubilee on Nov 14, 1999. A parish centre and rectory were added and dedicated by Ha on Dec 18, 2005.