KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's first Roman Catholic cardinal Anthony Soter Fernandez, has died.
The 88-year-old Fernandez, who was also Archbishop Emeritus of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur, had been suffering from tongue cancer.
His death at 12.35pm today at St Francis Xavier Home for the Elderly in Cheras here, was confirmed by the Chancery of the Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur in an obituary notice.
Fernandez was created a cardinal by Pope Francis in
November 2016.
He became the Archdiocese's second Archbishop upon his appointment on July 30, 1983, by Pope John Paul II, and was installed on Nov 10, 1983.
He retired in May 2003 and was succeeded by The Most Reverend Tan Sri Murphy Nicholas Xavier Pakiam.
Wake services will be held at the Community Centre of the Cathedral of St John, Jalan Bukit Nanas, here tomorrow from noon to 9pm, and on Friday, from 8am to 9pm.
"Each visitor is allowed a maximum of 15 minutes for viewing, paying respects and personal prayer.
"Due to the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) restrictions, the number of visitors at any single time should not exceed 20," stated the chancery notice.
Those wishing to pay their last respects have been asked to complete an online pre-booking form at https://wake.archkl.org.
A funeral mass will be held on Saturday at 10.30am.
Due to restrictions under the CMCO, the funeral mass will not be opened to the public but will be live-streamed from ArchKL YouTube Channel - https://Tv.ArchKL.org
"On behalf of the Archdiocese, His Grace Most Reverend Julian Leow, the Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur would like to express a special thank you to the Little Sisters of the Poor, Archdiocesan staff, clergy companions, caregivers, members of his private medical team, doctors and staff of Assunta Hospital and University Malaya Medical Centre for their care and compassion during His Eminence's ailment," said Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur Chancellor, Reverend Father Michael Chua in the obituary notice.
"We invite the clergy, religious and faithful to remember His Eminence Anthony Soter Cardinal Fernandez in your masses and prayers."