Paul Tan Chee Ing

Rt. Rev. Monsignor Paul Tan Chee Ing, (April 5, 1940 –) S.J., S.T.L., PhD, D.D., commonly referred to as Bishop Paul Tan, is the second Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Malacca-Johor. He was also the president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei from the year 2011 to 2012.

His Excellency

Paul Tan Chee Ing

S.J.
Bishop Emeritus of Malacca-Johor
SeeDiocese of Malacca-Johor
InstalledMay. 15, 2003.
Term endedNovember 19, 2015.
PredecessorJames Chan Soon Cheong
SuccessorAnthony Bernard Paul
Orders
OrdinationJune 21, 1971
ConsecrationMay 15, 2003
Personal details
Born (1940-04-05) April 5, 1940
Yong Peng, Johor, Malaysia
NationalityMalaysian
DenominationRoman Catholic
Styles of
Paul Tan Chee Ing
Reference styleRight Reverend
Spoken styleYour Excellency
Religious styleBishop

Early life

Tan was born on April 5, 1940, in Yong Peng, Johor state of migrants from Fujian province, China. He entered the Jesuit novitiate in Hong Kong in 1959, and furthered his studies in the Philippines and Taiwan before obtaining a Licentiate in Theology (STL) at Milltown Institute of Theology and Philosophy in Dublin, Ireland.

Education

In 1971, he was ordained a priest and began doctoral studies at Ecole des Hautes Etudes in France. His doctoral dissertation on the thoughts of Mao Zedong, founder of China's communist party, was submitted in French and earned him a doctorate cum laude. Bishop Tan is fluent in English, French, Italian, Malay and Mandarin, as well as other Chinese dialects.

Religious work

After his studies, he went to Colombia in Latin America for a final year of Jesuit formation. Back in Malaysia, he helped establish the Catholic Research Centre in Malaysia in 1977 to help keep Catholics informed about Church teachings on ethics and social issues, as well as on political, social and economic developments in Malaysia.

Bishop Tan was also a founder of the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Sikhism in the early 1980s. Today, the council consults with the government, and vice versa, on laws, policies and other matters affecting non-Muslims.

He has also been active in ecumenism, having served as assistant secretary and later as executive committee member of the Christian Federation of Malaysia until he went to Rome 1992. In Rome, he served as the Jesuit superior general's regional assistant for East Asia and Oceania.

Pope John Paul II appointed him Bishop of Malacca-Johor on Feb. 13, 2003. His episcopal ordination was on May 15, 2003. In January 2011 he became the president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.[1]

Pope Francis accepted Bishop Tan's resignation from office (due to reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75) on November 19, 2015. Pope Francis appointed Bishop Anthony Bernard Paul to succeed him.[2]

References
  1. "Catholic Bishops' Conference of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei".
  2. Vatican News http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2015/11/19/0899/02017.html Missing or empty |title= (help)
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