Bishop of Sandakan
Bishop Julius Dusin Gitom, Bishop of Sandakan, was born on October 14, 1957, in Kampung Loltos, in the Diocese of Kota Kinabalu. He attended primary school and completed his secondary studies in 1977, then worked for two years as a laboratory assistant for Tobishima Construction. After three months of propaedeutic study he entered St. Peter's College Major Seminary in Kuching for philosophy and theology. He was ordained a priest on November 19, 1989, and incardinated in the Diocese of Kota Kinabalu. He then served as parochial vicar of St. Dominic's parish, Lahad Tuaran (1990-1994) and parish priest of St. John's parish, Tuaran (1994-1995); studied for a licentiate in moral theology at the Alphonsian Academy and a master's degree in spirituality at the Angelicum in Rome (1995-1998); taught at St. Peter's College Major Seminary in Kuching (1998-2003); and studied for a licentiate in canon law at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas in Manila (2004-2007). On July 16, 2007, he was appointed Bishop of Sandakan. He received episcopal ordination on October 15, 2007, with Salvatore Pennacchio as principal consecrator and John Lee Hiong Fun-Yit Yaw and Cornelius Piong as co-consecrators.