In a brief interview with Vatican News, Cardinal Sebastian Francis of Penang, Malaysia, emphasized that the Church there is vibrant.
“The politics are quite stable and the Church is quite vibrant, quite alive, and we have many people inquiring about the Catholic faith as adults,” said Cardinal Francis, who was in Rome for an ad limina visit. “Many of them are requesting baptism as adults. That keeps us on our toes.”
“Even if other parts of Asia may still be experiencing some kind of persecution, we should not fall into a trap of having a ‘minority complex,’ a persecution complex,” he added. “Of course, there are real issues, but we will continue to tell the story of Jesus in Asia.”
Islam is the official religion of the Southeast Asian nation (map). 55% of Malaysia’s 34.9 million people are Muslim, 9% are Christian, 7% are Hindu, and 5% are Buddhist, with 19% adhering to Chinese folk religions and 4% to ethnic religions.