More than 500 faithful gathered at St. Gabriel Church in Tatkone Sanpya on April 10 to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Fr. Peter Malang Nawng Maw, the first priest from the Zaiwa tribe of Kachin.

Bishop John Mung Ngawn La Sam of Myitkyina Diocese and Bishop Emeritus Francis Daw Tang, priests, and the faithful of Myitkyina and Banmaw Dioceses joined the 8:00 a.m. Mass, along with numerous priests, religious, and laypeople from both dioceses.

The Zaiwa people, also known as Atsi, number about 60,000 in Myanmar and up to 180,000 worldwide, mostly in Myanmar and China’s Yunnan Province. Fr. Peter’s ordination was a historic first for this small ethnic community.

A Historic Vocation

Fr. Peter was born in 1949 in Jahkye Village, Banmaw Township. He is the fourth of 15 siblings.

He and Fr. Joseph Labang Tu were ordained on April 4, 1976, at St. Columban Cathedral in Myitkyina by Archbishop Paul Zinghtung Grawng.

Fr. Peter holds several distinctions. He is the first Zaiwa tribesman to become a priest. He was also the first priest ordained by the first local bishop of Kachin ethnicity. He is the fifth Kachin priest overall and was a classmate of His Eminence Cardinal Charles Bo of the Yangon Archdiocese.

A Legacy of Formation

Half of the priests now serving in Myitkyina Diocese are former seminarians of Fr. Peter. He served as rector of St. Columban’s minor seminary for two terms and also led St. Patrick’s intermediate seminary. He is regarded as a procurator of the diocese, having shaped generations of clergy.

He has served as a parish priest in Mogaung, Danai, Shatapru, and Tanghpre parishes. He currently serves as an assistant to Myitkyina Parish.

Testimonies of a Faithful Shepherd

Two priests who know him well testified about his priestly life. They described him as a man of discipline, a man of note, full of pastoral zeal, healthy, and sociable.

Bishop John La Sam praised Fr. Peter for his dutiful pastoral service. He encouraged fellow priests to imitate his good qualities.

The Golden Jubilee Mass concluded successfully by the grace of God. More than 500 faithful attended to honor a man who broke new ground for his tribe and has spent five decades building up the Church in Kachin State.

By RVA Kachin Jinghpaw Service