The Pre-War Sacred Heart Church completed in 1938

by   Rev. Fr. Tobias Chi Former Rector of Sacred Heart Parish and Vicar General of Kota Kinabalu Diocese (1977-1985)

 
The history of Sacred Heart began with an amazing story of amazing grace in the life of a man by the name of Carlos Quarteron who became the first Prefect Apostolic of the then called Prefecture of North Borneo and Labuan. Like John Newton (1725 - 1807), the author of one of the world's most famous hymn "Amazing Grace", he was a sailor, a captain of a ship and a slave trader. When he was  caught in a storm in which he almost lost his life, he got on his knees, he prayed and vowed and he kept his promises. After having studied in Rome for the priesthood and after having received Holy Orders at the age of 46 in 1855, he was immediately made Prefect Apostolic. His prefecture included the whole of Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei territories. With two Missionaries of the Milan Foreign Missions he reached the Sabah shores early in 1857. Labuan seemed to have been selected as the headquarters and it was there that a church and a house were built. Later he also built an atap church and a house on the main land of Gaya Bay. In 1860 when his Italian helpers were recalled by their superiors and appointed to Hong Kong, Monsignor Quarteron stayed on alone in Sabah until he was 70 and by then he was sick. He left for Rome to ask that his Prefecture be taken care of by a Mission Society.

A new missionary society founded in 1866, named St. Joseph's Society, Mill Hill , was just then looking for fields to offer their labourers. More than a hundred years ago, in 1881, Bishop Vaughan (later Cardinal), Founder and Superior General of the new Society, was in Rome. He gladly accepted the new mission and sent four of his missionaries with Father Jackson as Prefect Apostolic, to the new Prefecture. They arrived in Kuching in July, 1881. After having posted two of the missionaries in Sarawak, Mgr. Jackson and Fr. Kitty came to Sabah in the same year. They were the first two Mill Hill Missionaries ever in Sabah. The first years were spent in exploration and experimentation. Many mission stations were opened and then closed again. Among the early missions were Papar, Sandakan, Simpodo and Bundu (Kuala Penyu). Labuan, Inobong, Limbahau came later. Soon the Mill Hill Sisters also joined the pioneering work. Sandakan and Limbahau were the first places to have convents. For both the Sisters and the Fathers, the work and the life were not easy. One may wonder why these men and women left their comfortable homes and preferred the hardships of a jungle-covered, primitive land like Sabah. This is yet another amazing story to be told of the amazing grace.