RT. REV. BISHOP DATUK CORNELIUS PIONG
BISHOP OF KENINGAU
Lahir : 01.07.1949
Pentahbisan Paderi : 27.03.1977
Pentahbisan Uskup : 06.05.1993
He is the first bumiputera (indigenous – Kadazan Tatana ) Bishop in Malaysia and the first local Bishop of the Diocese of Keningau. Born on the 1st July 1949 in Kg. Bundu Kuala Penyu. Entered St. Francis Xavier minor seminary in Singapore in 1970 and College General major seminary in Penang in 1972. Ordained as a priest on the 27th March 1977 at St. Peter Bundu Kuala Penyu parish by the late Bishop Simon Fung. Appointed as Vicar General of the Diocese of Kota Kinabalu in June 1987. Appointed as Bishop of the new Diocese of Keningau on the 17th December 1992. Ordained as a Bishop on the 6th May 1993 at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral Keningau by Archbishop Datuk Peter Chung of Archdiocese of Kuching.