Catholic Intelligence

Diocese of Sandakan

Sandakanan(us)

The Diocese of Sandakan is a Latin Catholic suffragan see of Kota Kinabalu covering the east coast of Sabah in East Malaysia. It was erected in 2007 and has been led by its founding bishop, Julius Dusin Gitom, since that year.

The see

Rank
Suffragan diocese
Tradition
Latin Church
Erected
16 July 2007
Latin
Sandakanan(us)
Patron
Blessed Virgin Mary
Annuario code
001002885

The see in figures

Catholics
59,435
Population
1,378,723
Catholic share
4.3%

of the people living within its bounds

Priests
10
Catholics per priest
5,944
Extent
43,657 km²
Catholics per km²
1.4

Figures as recorded in the register, from the Annuario Pontificio and the see's own published statements. Shares and ratios are computed from the two figures shown beside them.

The bishop

Bishop
Julius Dusin Gitom
Born
14 October 1957
Birthplace
Kampung Lokos

A see whose chair stands empty is recorded as vacant rather than filled with a guess. On what a bishop is, see the bishop.

The cathedral

St. Mary's Cathedral, Sandakan stands in Sandakan, the church that holds the cathedra from which this see takes its name.

On what a cathedral is, see the cathedral; every see church on earth is gathered at the cathedrals.

The province of Kota Kinabalu

A suffragan of Kota Kinabalu.

The sees of this province:

On how the Church is ordered into provinces, see the diocese.

History

The east coast of Sabah, taking in the Sandakan and Tawau divisions of East Malaysia, is entrusted to the Diocese of Sandakan (Dioecesis Sandakaanus; Keuskupan Sandakan: 山打根教区), a Latin Catholic jurisdiction suffragan to the Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu. The diocese is organized into five parishes (Sandakan, Beluran, Lahad Datu, Telupid and Tawau) and one mission district (Paitan).

What is kept by invitation

The record above is published because it is public: what this see is, when it was erected, who holds its chair, and where it stands among its neighbours.

The working record is not. The chancery's address, telephone and email, the clergy of the see, and the hours of Mass, confession and adoration in the parishes within it are kept for members, and a person reads every request.

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Sources

The see's own website · Wikipedia

This record is compiled from the published statements of the see and the references of the Holy See, among them the Annuario Pontificio. On the method, see the keeping of the record. Whoever finds an error is asked, in charity, to write: [email protected].