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Fr Francis Chao passes away

Feb 08 2010

Fr Francis Chao, 83, passed away peacefully on 24 Jan. 2010 at the Little Sisters of the Poor, Penang.

On 26 Jan,, Msgr Stephen Liew led the cortege, with two nuns from the Home, to the Church of St Anne. A group of people at Church of St Anne was on hand to greet the cortege and to pray for this gentle, humble man whom they had affectionately known for years.

A Triduum Mass was held for Fr. Chao beginning from 24 Jan. His funeral Mass was held on 27 Jan. at 11.00am at the Church of St Anne. The Mass was in both Mandarin and English and presided over by the Bishop of Penang, Rt Rev Antony Selvanayagam. 23 priests were present and about 600 people among the laity.

In Bishop Selva’s homily, he said that coming together at a time like this is a recollection of our faith, our faithfulness to God.

“We are here to celebrate the faithfulness of a person who gave up his service for God.” said the Bishop, “In the fist reading, St Paul reminds us that if we were baptized in Jesus, means wee were buried together with him in death, and if this is true, it also means we will rise with him. To us, this is rising in new life in Christ and dying to our old self. This is our core Christian belief.”

He pointed out that the responsorial psalm ‘The Lord is my Shepherd, there is nothing I shall want’ speaks volume of Fr. Chao, who had dedicated his life to Jesus; with Jesus, there is nothing Fr Chao wanted more as to him Jesus is everything.

Touching on a part of the Gospel – “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him (on) the last day” Bishop said Fr. Chao had lived his life fully, so we are here to celebrate his faithfulness to Jesus, and we are here to celebrate our own faith too.”

A funeral procession, lead by the Bishop and priests went from the Church to the St Anne’s Catholic Memorial Park, where Fr Chao was buried.

Fr. Francis Chao Chung Sheng was born on 1 October 1927 in China, and ordained a priest in 1955 at the then Cathedral of the Assumption, Penang. He was the secretary to the first Bishop of Penang, the late Bishop Francis Chan. He was a co-founder of the Heng Ee school, together with the late Fr. Arthur Julien.

He became a principal of three schools; Heng Ee Primary school in Penang, Sacred Heart School in Balik Pulau, Penang and Catholic High School in Tanjong Malim, Perak.

He served as parish priest to the Church of the Holy Name of Jesus, Balik Pulau, Penang from 1965 to 1967, Church of the Most Holy Redeemer, Tanjung Malim, Perak from 1967 to 1978 and Church of St Michael, Ipoh in 1979. In 1984, he was back to Church of the Holy Name of Jesus as parish priest for over 10 years before he moved to Church of the Holy Name of Mary, Permatang Tinggi, Penang as parish priest in 1999.

After his retirement in 2003, he resided at the St Anne’s Retired Priests Home, Bukit Mertajam, Penang.

- by Lucia Lai

Last changed: Feb 08 2010 at 9:44 AM

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