BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (UCAN) -- The ordination of the first Catholic bishop in Brunei was an unprecedented event for the Catholic Church in the predominantly Muslim sultanate.

Monsignor Francesco Cao Minh Dung, counselor to the Apostolic Nunciature in Bangkok, described the episcopal ordination of Bishop Cornelius Sim on Jan. 21 as a historic moment in the life of the local Church, recently raised to an apostolic vicariate. The nunciature handles relations with several Southeast Asian countries including Brunei Darussalam.

Speaking with UCA News in Bangkok, Monsignor Dung said that the crowd, the solemnity, the music and the presence of so many men and women who have dedicated their lives to God and the Church made the ordination an event to remember.

It was the culmination of the change from an apostolic prefecture to an apostolic vicariate, which Pope John Paul II announced on Oct. 20. An apostolic vicariate is an ecclesiastical jurisdiction in mission regions where the Church hierarchy is not yet fully organized.

Archbishop Salvatore Pennacchio, the Bangkok-based apostolic delegate to Brunei, ordained Bishop Sim, assisted by Archbishop John Ha of Kuching and Bishop Anthony Lee of Miri. The ordination was held at the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei's capital, under the auspices of the Bishops' Conference of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.

The new bishop was born in Brunei in 1951 and ordained a priest in 1989, shortly after the sultanate achieved full independence from Britain in 1984. He was named first head of Brunei prefecture in 1997, when it was created out of what was then Miri-Brunei diocese. The Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak flank Brunei in northern Borneo. Kuching and Miri are in Sarawak.

Brunei has about 5,000 registered Catholics, most of whom are ethnic Chinese, Dusan and Iban people. About 20,000 Filipino migrant workers, most of them Catholics, also stay in the country.

In addition to Catholic archbishops, bishops, priests and nuns, representatives from other Christian Churches attended Bishop Sim's ordination, making it a true celebration of faith and unity, Monsignor Dung said. The church was packed with a record number of parishioners from all three Catholic parishes in Brunei as well as with guests from inside and outside the country.

Monsignor Dung said he was sure it was inspiring for all Christians in Brunei to have so many people united in prayer and worship.

During the homily, he said the elevation of the former prefecture to a vicariate not only raised the status and responsibilities of Bishop Sim, but also the status of the Church in Brunei and the responsibilities of all its members.

The ordination, he continued, is a subtle reminder to all Catholics to work together with the Church hierarchy to build up the Body of Christ.

Bishop Sim explained that he chose "Duc in Altum" (put out into the deep, Luke 5:4) as his episcopal motto to encourage people to be creative in looking for opportunities to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to those who have yet to hear and be touched by it.

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