In early January 1903,
Fr. Henry van der Heyden first arrived in
Jesselton (present-day Kota Kinabalu). The aggressive policy of importing
Chinese workers by the
North Borneo Chartered Company Government soon flooded the town with the arrival of hundreds of Chinese immigrants. The bulk of the early
Catholic community was made up of poor
Hakka farmers in a completely new land striving to adjust to all the harsh conditions of a new life together with some Europeans,
Indians,
Filipinos and the
Kadazan-Dusuns who later formed the backbone of the Catholic community in Jesselton. The first cathedral building was built by
Mill Hill missionary Fr. Valentine Weber in 1911 and the second by Fr. Arnold Verhoeven in 1938. During
World War II, the cathedral was nearly razed to the ground with only some pillars and the foundation survived the
Japanese bombing. The church was rebuilt after the war and opened in 1949 by
Msgr. James Buis with another major renovation by Fr. Tobias Chi was done in 1981. == Gallery ==