(ZENIT News / Rome, 10/19/2025) – The General College for priestly formation in Pnang, Malaysia, celebrates its 360th anniversary. It was founded in 1665 in Ayutthaya by Bishops François Pallu and Pierre Lambert de la Motte.
The General Regional Seminary College, known today as Seminari Tinggi Katolik, was founded by the visionary Bishops Pierre Lambert de la Motte and François Pallu of the Paris Foreign Missions Society (MEP), initially under the humble name of St. Joseph Seminary. From its inception, it attracted young men from Siam, Goa, Macau, Cochin-China, Tonkin, and China. Its broad reach and the confluence of languages and cultures led to the title of the General College for Catholics of Asia.
In 1688, tensions in Siam increased: missionaries and seminarians faced imprisonment and persecution. The 1765 invasion of Ayutthaya by Burmese Forces forced the College to travel to Thailand for survival, then migrate to Cambodia and finally to Pondicherry, India, in 1770. Unsustainable due to the distance for seminarians from the heart of Asia, it closed its doors in 1782 for twenty-five years. In 1809, Father Lolivier reestablished it on Pulau Tikus, Penang.
The 360th anniversary celebration by Bishops, priests and seminarians in the Mariophile Hills began on September 29 and concluded on October 1, the Feast of St. Therèse of Lisieux, Patron Saint of the Missions, recalling the roots of the missionary spirit of the Paris Foreign Missions Society in its Founders.
Archbishop Julian Leow of Kuala Lumpur gave the homily at the Mass that opened the celebrations, noting that his students have brought the Gospel with a great missionary spirit, even with martyrdom: «These martyrs and missionaries are the luminous thread that runs through our history.»
Father Vincent Sénéchal, Superior General of the Foreign Mission Society, shared the Association’s consistent missionary vision: «When the first European Bishops arrived in Asia, they knew that evangelization had to take root in the local soil. That’s why they built seminaries to train priests who spoke the language, lived the culture, and loved the people.»
Cardinal Sebastian Francis of Penang, also president of the General College, called on everyone to be «visionaries and dreamers of the Church of Malaysia» during the October 1 celebration. He said in his homily that «hope is not an illusion. It is the audacity to believe that God’s grace continues to work through small beginnings and quiet fidelity.» He praised the work of the Fathers of the Paris Foreign Missions and the local Bishops, clergy, and benefactors who supported them during wars, political upheavals, and times of sudden change: «Even when their numbers diminished, God was preparing them to bear fruit in other places, in Thailand, Singapore, and Kuching.»
Bishop Emeritus John Ha of Kuching, a former student and former Formator of the Seminary, commented: «Grace is at the heart of the General College: the grace that calls, the grace that sustains, and the grace that renews.»
The celebrations included moments of prayer, reflection, music, and reunion between generations of alumni from Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Thailand, and other countries. Father Ryan Innas Muthu, who assumed the duties of Rector of the General College on January 1, 2025, expressed gratitude to all those who continue to support the Seminary’s mission. «We stand on the shoulders of giants. Every stone of this Seminary bears witness to 360 years of grace. May we too be faithful in our time, forming priests who bear the face of Christ in Asia.»
The seminarians sang a special hymn composed for the anniversary, which reflects the spirit of the General College: «We rise, we rise to lift up Your Name. We live, we live to cry out Your praise!» This youthful fervour sustained the Seminary for three and a half centuries. It will continue to sow fidelity in the present and hope for the future of the Church in Asia.
