St. Anthony's Church, Teluk Intan

Church of St. Anthony of Padua
Church of St. Anthony of Padua
Malay: Gereja St. Anthony of Padua
	St. Anthony's Church, Teluk Intan
	04°01′37.5658″N 101°01′23.5828″E / 4.027101611°N 101.023217444°E
Location	Jalan Mah Pooi Soo, Teluk Intan
Country	Malaysia
Language(s)	Tamil, English, Mandarin and Malay
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Tradition	Latin rite
Website	Website
History
Founded	1894
Founder(s)	René-Michel-Marie Fée, MEP
Consecrated	1923
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Architectural type	Neo-Gothic
Specifications
Materials	brick
Administration
Division	Perak State Deanery
Archdiocese	Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur
Diocese	Diocese of Penang
Clergy
Priest in charge	David Lourdes

The Church of St. Anthony of Padua is a Roman Catholic parish church under the jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Penang located in the town of Teluk Intan, Perak, Malaysia.

History

The origin of the church dates back to 1894 when the French missionary priest Rev. Father René-Michel-Marie Fée, MEP, acquired a piece of land and built an attap roofed wooden chapel as part of the larger Parish of South Perak which included Tapah. The chapel was dedicated to St. Anthony of Padua. ^[1]

The Rev. Father Fée was elevated to become the Bishop of Malacca in 1896 ^[2] and was succeeded by the Rev. Father Louis Perrichon who ministered to the scattered Roman Catholic communities along the Tapah – Kuala Kubu Baru road. In 1910, a presbytery was built in the compound of the chapel during the watch of the sixth parish priest, the Rev. Father Donat Perrissoud who also extended his pastoral ministry to the townships of Lumut and Sitiawan. ^[1]

In 1914, the original wood and attap chapel was destroyed by fire. Funds amounting to 70,000 Straits dollars was successfully raised and work begun on the building of a new church with the foundation stone laid on 7 May 1922. ^[3] The new church building was consecrated on 6 May 1923 by Bishop Jean-Marie Mérel, Vicar-Apostolic Emeritus of Canton. ^[4] ^[5]

Today, weekly masses are held in Tamil and English while masses in Mandarin and Malaysian are held once a month.

Pastors

The following have served as pastors of the parish since its formation in 1894: ^[1]

From	Until	Pastor	Notes
1894	1896	René-Michel-Marie Fée, MEP	Later Bishop of Malacca (1896) ^[2]
1896	1900	Pierre-Louis Perrichon, MEP	Later Coadjutor Bishop of Malacca (1920) ^[6]
1900	1901	Louis Duvelle, MEP	Established the Church of St. Anthony, Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur in 1913 ^[7]
1901	1905	Emile Marie Henri Sausseau, MEP	Established the parish of the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes, Ipoh in 1905 ^[8]
1906	1909	Jean Passail, MEP
1909	1914	Donat Perrissoud, MEP
1914	1920	Emile Marie Henri Sausseau, MEP
1929	1931	Jean Paul Baloche, MEP
1931	1933	Michel Bonamy, MEP	Established St. Anthony's School in 1931 ^[9]
1934	1936	Ignatius John Aloysius	An alumnus of St. John's Institution and the first local Malayan parish priest. ^[10] Later first Vicar general of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Penang (1955). ^[11]
1936	1947	John Edmond	Oversaw the transfer of St. Anthony's School to the De La Salle Brothers. ^[12]
1947	1949	Arokianathan
1949	1950	Finian De Silva
1950	1951	Dominic Vendargon	First Bishop (1955) and Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur (1972) ^[13]
1951	1953	Arokianathan
1953	1959	R. Brossard, MEP
1959	1970	Mathias Ki	Established St. Anthony's Branch Primary School in Langkap in 1968 to provide education opportunities for the Orang Asli community ^[14] ^[15]
1970	1978	Maurice Surmon, MEP
1978	1980	Felix Michael
1980	1990	Anthony Chong
1990	1996	Pierre Gauthier, MEP
1996	2005	Arulnathan Joseph
2005	2008	Vincent Paul
2008	2012	Francis Andrew
2012	2018	Francis Xavier Selvarajoo
2018	present	David Lourdes

St. Anthony's School

The tenth parish priest, the Rev. Father Michel Bonamy, established a school known as St. Anthony's School in a wooden hut adjacent to the church. ^[9] His successor, the Rev. Father John Edmond, acquired a piece of land opposite the church for the school and the first block of six classrooms was built on this land and officially opened by the British Resident of Perak, Marcus Rex, on 27 January 1941. ^[12]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "About Us". St. Anthony's Church, Teluk Intan. Retrieved 1 Dec 2021.
^ ^a ^b "Bishop René-Michel-Marie Fée". History of the Catholic Church in Singapore. Retrieved 1 Dec 2021.
^ Khoo, Kay Kim (1995). "Teluk Anson: 1882–1941: Port, Agriculture and Erosion". Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. 68 (269): 32–52. doi:10.2307/41493644. Retrieved 1 Dec 2021.
^ Law, Anthony (28 Jun 2011). "An Act Of Faith". The Star. Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. Retrieved 1 Dec 2021.
^ "Bishop Jean-Marie Mérel, M.E.P. †". Catholic Hierarchy. Retrieved 1 Dec 2021.
^ "Bishop Pierre Louis Perrichon, M.E.P. †". Catholic Hierarchy. Retrieved 1 Dec 2021.
^ "The Church". Church of St. Anthony, Kuala Lumpur. Retrieved 1 Dec 2021.
^ "Mosaic Mural of the Lord's Supper". Church of Our Lady of Lourdes, Ipoh. Retrieved 1 Dec 2021.
^ ^a ^b "Father Bonamy Dies Aged 54". The Straits Times. 15 May 1957. Retrieved 1 Dec 2011.
^ "Notes of the Day". The Straits Times. 19 Dec 1928. Retrieved 1 Dec 2021.
^ "Msgr IJ Aloysius fondly remembered after 25 years". The Herald. 28 Feb 2019. Retrieved 1 Dec 2021.
^ ^a ^b "e-Lasallian Network – St. Anthony's School". Retrieved 1 Dec 2021.
^ "Archbishop Dominic Aloysius Vendargon †". Catholic Hierarchy. Retrieved 1 Dec 2021.
^ "Sejarah". SK St. Anthony, Langkap (in Malay). Retrieved 1 Dec 2021.
^ "Memories of St Anthony's, Teluk Intan – Mr Anthony Kee". St. Anthony Teluk Intan Through The Years. 18 Apr 2019. Retrieved 1 Dec 2021.