BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (UCAN) -- Catholics in Brunei celebrated the country's inauguration as an apostolic prefecture and the installation of Monsignor Cornelius Sim as the first apostolic prefect of Brunei on Feb. 22.

Archbishop Luigi Bressan, Bangkok-based apostolic delegate to Brunei, installed Monsignor Sim as apostolic prefect and his insignia of office were presented by Bishop Anthony Lee Kok Hin of Miri diocese, where the monsignor had been vicar general until his appointment as head of the Brunei Church.

Some 1,500 Catholics including four bishops and 16 priests participated in the installation Mass in the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption.

An installation dinner was provided on the church grounds, and groups from various parishes provided entertainment. Visitors could also view an exhibit on Brunei Church history and community life in the parish center.

At a ceremony on the next day, Brunei's National Day, Monsignor Sim set the event in the context of the country's 14th anniversary of independence.

"Freedom is a great gift," Monsignor Sim said. "Freedom, however, has strings attached. Freedom itself does not come free. It has its own mandate."

"For the Church, this mandate is to serve," he added. "Service is not simply to one's co-religionists, but must extend beyond to those outside."

Archbishop Bressan said that the timing of the new prefecture was "providential" and that the two-day celebration was a sign of the Catholic community's maturity and lively approach to its existence as Church in Brunei.

He added that the Church in Brunei could look to its past 70 years of service with a sense of achievement and said that evangelization has also meant involvement in the field of education and simply being "good neighbors."

Mill Hill Father Ivan Fang, parish priest at Assumption, welcomed the guests and thanked them for their participation and support.

The new apostolic prefecture on the northern coast of Borneo corresponds to Negara Brunei Darussalam (abode of peace), a kingdom of some 284,500 people on 5,765 square kilometers that won its independence from Britain in 1984.

The Church in Brunei includes some 3,000 local Catholics, largely Chinese, Dusuns and Ibans. Another 27,000 or so comprise mostly Filipinos.

Besides two priests to cover three parishes and one mission center, the Church has four full-time catechists, one woman Religious in formation and two seminarians.

The new apostolic prefecture, created by Pope John Paul II in an apostolic letter dated Nov. 21, 1997, was formally announced on Dec. 6. Brunei had been part of Miri diocese since 1976.

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