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Father John Yap And Father Francois, In Front Of St Michael’s Catholic Church, Ipoh
Father Jules Paul Francois, on the right, was a French Catholic Missionary belonging to the Paris Foreign Mission (MEP). He was the Parish Priest of St Michael’s Church, Ipoh from 1938 to 1955.
The heavily bearded Frenchman was a skilled water diviner having undertaken a definitive course in the art in Paris. Consequently he helped numerous villagers in the area who were having difficulties in finding a source for their wells. He also helped tin miners in their search for potential tin lodes and at least once correctly located an iron ore deposit on top of a 500 ft limestone outcrop.
Following tradition the Mass in those days was always conducted in Latin and the choir was for boys only. However, it was Father Francois that allowed girls into the choir, to sing soprano, so on special feast days there were as many as 40 girls in the choir.
In his long service to the parishioners of Ipoh, Father Francois officiated at many important church services and functions including the reburial of the wartime heroine Sybil Kathigasu.
He is buried in the cemetery of the church he served so well.
Father Yap an old Michaelian educated at St Michael's Institution, Ipoh who on graduation joined the priesthood and was subsequently ordained in 1954. While he never served in Ipoh, having begun his priestly ministry in Kelantan and then moved on, first to Klang and then Kuala Lumpur, he was a regular visitor to Ipoh and his alma mater.
To read more about St Michael’s Catholic Church, click here.
To read more about Sybil Kathigasu and to see a short video, click here.
To read more about St Michael’s Institution, click here.