COURTESY CALL ON SANDAKAN MUNICIPAL PRESIDENT

By Pilis Malim

SANDAKAN: Tuesday, 27th November 2018, Rt. Rev Datuk Julius Dusin Gitom, the Bishop of Sandakan Diocese, led a five-member delegation to pay a courtesy call to the President of Sandakan Municipal, Datuk Peter Hii, in his office, at the Wisma Majlis Perbandaran Sandakan. The main purpose of the courtesy call was to inform the Sandakan Municipal President about the Diocese of Sandakan and the St. Mary’s Cathedral Parish.

In welcoming the delegation, the President expressed his sincere appreciation to the delegation for paying him a visit which he believes a way to pave a closer tie between the church and the Sandakan Municipal.

In briefing the President about the Diocese of Sandakan, Bishop Datuk Julius Dusin Gitom informed that the Sandakan Diocese is one of the three dioceses in Sabah. The other Diocese is the Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu and Diocese of Keningau. Sandakan Diocese has been erected some 11-year ago which covers the eastern part of Sabah has the largest coverage in terms of an area. But in terms of the number of parishioners, it is less than the other dioceses as it has only about seventy thousand parishioners. Currently, it is comprised of five parishes, namely St. Mary’s Cathedral Sandakan, Holy Trinity Tawau, St. Dominic Lahad Datu. St. Martin Telupid, Our Lady of Fatimah Beluran and one mission that is the Paitan Mission, he added. The photograph below shows Bishop Datuk Julius stressing a point to the President.

On the other hand, Rev. Fr. David Garaman, Rector of St. Mary’s Cathedral Parish, briefed the President about St. Mary’s Cathedral Parish, as the oldest in Sandakan and perhaps in Sabah. It was established in 1883 and we have commemorated its 135 years of existence this year. Historically, the St. Mary’s mission, as it was called back then in 1884, established the first school in the North Borneo and now called Sabah,. Many of the local leaders, politician, and successful businessmen obtained their early education in St. Mary’s school, Fr David added.

Now, St. Mary’s is running two secondary schools and three primary schools where all of them are located at Mile 2 Labuk Road. Besides school, St Mary’s also has a multipurpose hall cum hostel which provides a place to stay for the outstation student, especially those from the not-well-to-do family.

In response to the briefing given by Bishop Datuk Julius Dusin Gitom and Rector Rev. Fr. David Garaman, Datuk Peter Hii responded in amazement on the church' history and their work on humanity. Finally, as his gesture of appreciation to the visiting delegate, he handed over his personal donation to the church of St. Mary’s Cathedral. The courtesy call lasted about almost an hour before it was adjourned.