page_title: St. Mary's Cathedral, Sandakan
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: St. Mary's Cathedral, Sandakan / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Sandakan, Sabah: Interior view of the pre-war church St. Mary's.
context_page_description: The St. Mary's Cathedral also called Cathedral of Sandakan Is the mother church of the Catholic Diocese of Sandakan which is as its name implies in the city Sandakan, Borneo Island in the Asian country of Malaysia.5.840196°N 118.111502°E
  During the nineteenth century it was erected a prefecture based in Labuan, an island off the northwestern coast of Borneo. In the period established in the territory of the various mission stations, including the mission of Santa Maria of Sandakan, a small town on the coast of the island of Borneo.
context_section_description: St. Mary's church was founded in 1883 and it is now 135 years old as of current year 2018, the oldest church in Sandakan. The first church was created as a small wooden structure. Its history dates back to May 1883 when Monsignor T. Jackson, the prefect Apostolic of the Mill Hill, England, order of Missionary Priest, bought five acres of land on a hill to set up a mission. Together with Father Prenger, they built a temporary hut made of 'Kajang' and dedicated the mission to the Blessed Mother and named it St. Mary's Hill.
  Thus began the St. Mary's Parish when the Mill Hill Fathers were allocated the Prefecture of North Borneo by Rome in 1881. One of the first places they came to was Sandakan. Monsigneur Thomas Jackson, who was appointed the 2ⁿᵈ Prefect Apostolate of North Borneo, came to Sandakan in May 1882 to attend a dinner to celebrate the granting of the Charter to the North Borneo Chartered Company in November 1881. In this first visit, he was able to find a suitable spot where the future mission station would be built. He found out that there were about 4,500 Chinese in Sandakan. He thought of setting up a Mission there for the Chinese. 
  Subsequently, in May 1883 Msgr. Thomas Jackson bought five (5) acres of land that is situated on a hill in Sandakan. During the same year, he ordered Rev. Fr. Alexander Prenger to proceed to Sandakan to establish a Mission here. Together they built a temporary hut made of “kajang.” Fr. Prenger dedicated the Mission to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and therefore named the piece of land acquired by Msgr. Jackson, St. Mary's Hill. Having high hopes for the Sandakan Mission, Msgr. Jackson also asked Rev. Fr. Benedict Pundleider to join Fr. Prenger in Sandakan. On 24 July 1883, Fr. Prenger and Fr. Pundleider opened St. Mary's School, the first school in North Borneo. By October in the same year, there was a proper house, some sort of a hostel for boys to stay in, and a small church.
  However, Sandakan Mission was making slow progress, and the school was not doing too well. This was because Sandakan was often invaded by pirates, and many of the people had fled into the interior for safety. In 1885, the Mission in Sandakan and the school were closed. Fr. Pundleider thought two priests serving in Sandakan were too many considering the situation. In addition, the living conditions were not healthy. Thus Fr. Pundleider left Sandakan in February 1884 and went to open a mission station in Bundu Kuala Penyu. Left to himself, Fr. Prenger tried to consolidate the mission and the school. However, in November 1885, Msgr. Jackson ordered him to leave Sandakan, because “Sandakan unhealthy; a wind blowing across the bay; many Chinese sick, no good water in town; and Fr. Prenger often ill.” Fr. Prenger closed the Mission and School and opened a mission station in Penampang.
  In July 1886, Rev. Fr. John Byron visited Sandakan and found 26 Catholics. After having been closed for two years, the Sandakan Mission was re-opened by Fr. Byron in May 1887. On 15 August 1887, St. Mary's School was also re-opened. From this year onwards St. Mary's School progressed gradually. An interesting observation can be made here : the transitory nature of the Assistant Rectors in Sandakan during the following few years. First, Rev. Fr. Bernard Kurz joined Fr. Byron in September 1887. Then he was replaced by Rev. Fr. Francis Dibona in March 1888. Rev. Fr. Julius Verbrugge was the next to assist Fr. Byron. In November 1889, Rev. Fr. John Rientjies was sent to Sandakan, to be replaced by Rev. Fr. Albert Reyffert four years later in November 1893.
  In 1891, a school was started for girls. The White Sisters (the Franciscan Missionaries of St. Joseph) opened St. Mary's Convent on 5 November 1891. The first four sisters were Sr. Theresa, Sr. Peter, Sr. Rose and Sr. Collete. This was the first convent to be opened in North Borneo. After the year 1899, the Sandakan was an established Mission with a presbytery, a boys’ school, a convent, and church. Rev. Fr. Cornelius Keet became the rector. In the same year, a great number of Filipino ref
caption: St. Mary's Convent, British North Borneo
exif: {"Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "160", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "16430"}