On Jalan Bukit Nanas, in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, the cathedral of St John the Evangelist is the seat of the Catholic archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur. The first community goes back to 1883, when a wooden hut on this same hill was dedicated to St John the Evangelist with the support of a local Catholic miner, Goh Ah Ngee, under the guidance of Father Charles Hector Letessier. The present building, the third on the site, had its foundation stone laid on 28 March 1954, opened in 1955 and was consecrated as a cathedral on 8 January 1962. The name of the architect is not documented in any reliable source, while the style is described as «Greek-Spanish», a recurring formula that comes from tourist and diocesan writing rather than from scholarship. The diocese of Kuala Lumpur was erected on 25 February 1955 by Pope Pius XII and raised to a metropolitan archdiocese on 18 December 1972. The present archbishop is Julian Leow Beng Kim, the fourth to hold the office, appointed by Pope Francis in 2014. Malaysia is a nation with a Muslim majority by constitution, with Christians estimated at around nine per cent of the national population, about half of them Catholic, concentrated above all in eastern Malaysia, in Sabah and Sarawak, where two thirds of the Christians of the country live. This archdiocese was at the centre of a long legal battle over the use of the word «Allah» by Christians in Malay-language publications. In 2009 the High Court found for the Catholic newspaper The Herald against the government ban, but the Court of Appeal overturned the ruling in 2013, confirmed definitively by the Federal Court in 2014. A separate case led in 2021 to another High Court ruling declaring unconstitutional the ministerial directive that barred Christians from using «Allah» and other terms, and the Malaysian government formally withdrew its appeal against that ruling on 18 April 2023, although the matter remains politically sensitive. No pope has ever visited Malaysia. Diplomatic relations with the Holy See were established only on 27 July 2011, with Malaysia becoming the one hundred and seventy-ninth state to do so, followed by the opening of an apostolic nunciature in Kuala Lumpur in 2013. On 10 February 2023, according to one source, a termite infestation caused the partial collapse of the ceiling on one side of the cathedral, damaging the altar and the pews. The building reopened for Christmas of that same year after restoration work.
About the Cathedral
The Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, on Jalan Bukit Nanas in central Kuala Lumpur, is the seat of the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur. The current, third building on this site was completed in 1955 and consecrated as a cathedral on 8 January 1962.
Key facts
- 1883: first wooden church on Bukit Nanas dedicated to St. John the Evangelist.
- 28 March 1954 – 1955: current cathedral built.
- 8 January 1962: consecrated as a cathedral.
- 18 December 1972: Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur elevated to metropolitan status.
- 2009–2023: the Catholic newspaper The Herald, tied to this archdiocese, fights a landmark legal battle over Christian use of the word “Allah”
- 27 July 2011: Malaysia establishes diplomatic relations with the Holy See, the 179th state to do so.
History
Rising on the same hill where a wooden mission church stood from 1883, the current cathedral became consecrated as a cathedral in 1962 and, decades later, found itself at the center of one of Malaysia’s most significant religious-freedom disputes: the archdiocese’s own Catholic newspaper, The Herald, spent years in court over the government’s ban on Christians using the word “Allah” in Malay-language publications, a fight that swung between courts for over a decade before a 2021 ruling favoring Christian use went unopposed by the government in 2023.
What you see
A white facade in a “Grecian-Spanish” style, echoing the nearby St. Michael’s Institution, rises with red-tiled roofing and twin towers bearing “St. John’s Cathedral” signage, set against the modern Kuala Lumpur Tower skyline behind.
Practical information
- Opening hours: generally open daily outside services; check current hours before visiting.
- Address: 5 Jalan Bukit Nanas, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Getting there
The cathedral stands on Bukit Nanas hill in central Kuala Lumpur, near the Masjid Jamek LRT and Bukit Nanas Monorail stations. GPS: 3°08′59″N, 101°41′58″E.
Nearby
- Kuala Lumpur Tower — the city’s landmark communications tower, visible from the cathedral grounds.
Sources
- Wikipedia — “Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist (Kuala Lumpur),” “Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur,” “Malaysia v. The Herald”
- GCatholic.org and Catholic-Hierarchy.org — Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur records.
- UCA News and AsiaNews — coverage of the “Allah” word controversy and Holy See–Malaysia relations.
- Vatican News, Oxford Human Rights Hub — legal history of the Herald case.
- stjohnkl.com.my (official cathedral site) — parish and construction history.
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