SARAWAK, APOSTOLIC PREFECTURE OF. — It is located in the southwestern part of British Borneo.
The territories of Sarawak, Brunei, North Borneo, and Labuan Island were erected into a prefecture on 27 August 1855 under the name of Labuan and North Borneo. Its first apostolic prefect was the Spanish priest Fr. Carlos Cuarterón, who left the mission in 1879 to return to his homeland. In 1881, the fathers of the Society of St. Joseph of Mill Hill arrived in British Borneo to take charge of the same prefecture, where they continue to labor to this day. On 5 February 1927, the mission was divided into the two prefectures of Sarawak and North Borneo, which on 14 February 1952 were elevated to apostolic vicariates, respectively of Kuching and Jesselton. On the same date, the territory of Brunei was detached from the vicariate of Jesselton and annexed to that of Kuching. The region of Sarawak obtained the legal status of a "British Crown Colony" in 1940 and is administered by a British governor. It comprises an area of 130,000 sq. km. and a population of 546,000 inhabitants. It is divided into five administrative divisions, each presided over by a British "resident." These divisions, in turn, are subdivided into districts, each headed by a "district officer."
According to the *Prospectus Status Missionis*, 1950–51, there are 13,755 Catholics and 3,189 catechumens; 27 priests, one of whom is indigenous; 5 brothers; 54 sisters, both foreign and native; and 6 minor seminarians. The construction of the seminary is nearing completion. There are 39 catechists; 132 teachers; 3 hospitals; 3 dispensaries; 1 orphanage; 1 old people’s hospice; 47 elementary schools; and 2 middle schools. This mission suffered considerable damage during the war, but the zeal of the Mill Hill Fathers soon accomplished the work of reconstruction and imparted a discreet progress to the missionary movement.