Cornelius Sim

Cornelius Sim was born in Seria, Brunei, on 16 September 1951. He is of Chinese and Dusunic descent.[4] He was raised a Catholic and educated in Catholic schools, but practiced his faith less as he reached adulthood.[5]

He earned an engineering degree from Dundee University, Scotland,[6] After this he stopped practicing his faith.[7] He worked in utilities operations of Brunei LNG from 1978 to 1985.[8] Returning to Brunei, he rediscovered his Catholic faith and grew close to a charismatic group that downplayed doctrine and emphasized a person relationship with God.[5] He earned a master's degree in theology at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, in 1988.[6][9] He returned to Brunei in 1988 and served as an administrator in St John's Church in Kuala Belait until his ordination as deacon on 28 May 1989.[9]

He was ordained to the priesthood on 26 November 1989.[6] He was the country's first local priest.[9]

He became vicar general of Brunei in 1995.[6] On 21 November 1997, Pope John Paul II named him Prefect of the Apostolic Prefecture of Brunei.[10] He was installed there on 22 February 1998.

On 20 October 2004, Pope John Paul elevated the Prefecture of Brunei to the status of a Vicariate and appointed Sim the first Vicar Apostolic of Brunei and Titular Bishop of Putia in Numidia.[6] He received his episcopal consecration on 21 January 2005 from Archbishop Salvatore Pennacchio at the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption in Bandar Seri Begawan.[11][12] The co-consecrators were John Ha Tiong Hock, Archbishop of Kuching and Anthony Lee Kok Hin, Bishop of Miri.[13]

On 25 October 2020, Pope Francis announced he would raise him to the rank of cardinal at a consistory scheduled for 28 November 2020.[14] Sim continues to credit his charismatic roots as the basis of his faith, allowing that the movement has been appropriately "domesticated, maybe for good reason".[5] He did not attend the consistory in Rome because of travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.[15] He expects to receive the symbols of his new rank when the new Apostolic Delegate to Brunei, Archbishop Wojciech Załuski, can travel and take up his post.[5] At that consistory, Pope France made him Cardinal-Priest of San Giuda Taddeo Apostolo.[16] On 16 December he was named a member of the Congregation for the Clergy.[17]

• Cardinals created by Pope Francis

• "Sim Card. Cornelius". Holy See Press Office. Archived from the original on 29 November 2020.
• Official website of the Apostolic Vicariate of Brunei Darussalam
• Catholic Hierarchy Profile of Apostolic Vicariate of Brunei Darussalam