The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu (Lat: Archdioecesis Kotakinabaluensis) is a metropolitan
archdiocese of the
Latin Church of the
Roman Catholic Church in
Sabah, a state of Malaysia on the island of
Borneo. The archdiocese is the oldest ecclesiastical territory in Malaysia, with a long history slowly rising along with the Catholic population from a prefecture to an archdiocese. Its
cathedral archepiscopal see is
Sacred Heart Cathedral, Kota Kinabalu. The patron saint of the archdiocese is
St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
On 5 February 1927 it was renamed the Apostolic Prefecture of Northern Borneo, and lost territory to form the
Apostolic Prefecture of Sarawak.
On 14 February 1952 the prefecture was promoted to Apostolic Vicariate of Jesselton, hence entitled to a
titular bishop. On 22 March 1962 its name was changed once more to the Apostolic Vicariate of Kota Kinabalu, after its see.
The diocese lost territories twice, to create its present suffragans :
on 17 December 1992 the diocese the
Diocese of Keningau with the appointment of Cornelius Piong.
on 16 July 2007 the
Diocese of Sandakan with the appointment of Julius Dusin Gitom.
On 23 May 2008, the diocese was elevated to Metropolitan Archdiocese, whose
ecclesiastical province comprises the above suffragan dioceses, both formerly part of the original territory of the diocese of Kota Kinabalu: the
Diocese of Keningau and the
Diocese of Sandakan.
On 21 June 2010,
PopeBenedict XVI appointed
John Wong Soo Kau, director of the aspirants' formation house in Kota Kinabalu, as Coadjutor Archbishop of Kota Kinabalu. His ordination took place on 1 October 2010 and was installed as the second and current
Archbishop of this diocese in 2013. His predecessor,
John Lee Hiong Fun-Yit Yaw, has been served as the first bishop from 1987 to his retirement on 1 December 2012.
Rev
Msgr Nicholas Stephen Juki Tinsung (Vicar General)
Rev Wilfred Petrus Atin (Chancellor)
Rev Primus Jouil (Episcopal Vicar for Religious cum Vicar General Emeritus)
Rev Cosmas Lee Khod Min
Rev Paul Lo
List of parishes
As of 2023, there are 23 parishes across 4 deaneries including various sub-parishes and 229 outstations found in the Catholic Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu.