Popular French priest from Petaling Jaya church dies at 91

Reverend Father Andrew Volle, a much-loved priest in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur, passed away on Sunday, aged 91.

He had been based in the Church of the Assumption in Petaling Jaya over the past two decades.

Members of the public are invited to pay their last respects to Father Volle at Assumption church, today and tomorrow (Tuesday). The Day Three prayers will be held in the church at 8.30pm tomorrow.

The funeral mass will be held on Wednesday, December 31, at the same church at 10am, followed by the burial at the Kajang Catholic Cemetery.

Father Volle first came to Malaya on October 5, 1949 as a missionary from France.

He was a member of the Paris Missions Society (MEP) and among the last group of French professors to be based at the College General in Penang, the main Catholic seminary in the region at the time.

Andre Paul Louis Volle was born on February 15, 1923, in Dornas, south of France. He was the fourth of Louis Volle and Fanie Paris's five children.

Volle was an altar server at the local parish in his village and often accompanied the parish priest to faraway hamlets.

"As I walked ahead, ringing the bell, I felt that one day I wanted to be like him," Volle wrote in his book "Come, Follow Me, The Journey of a Shepherd of God"

At the age of 12, Volle informed his parents about his desire to join the seminary and prepare to be a priest, receiving their blessings and support.

In 1936, Volle wa

s accepted into the seminary and a new life began for him. He made new friends and studied Greek and Latin.

He applied to join the MEP shortly after as he wanted training to carry out missionary work and his application was accepted.

However, before Volle could join the MEP, he was called for National Service, a tradition in France for all men reaching the age of 20.

Besides National Service, World War II also interrupted Volle's studies as he joined up with the Allied Forces in 1944.

However, the war in Europe ended in May 1945 and Volle was discharged from the army without ever seeing any military action.

On April 24, 1949, Volle completed his studies at the MEP and was ordained as a priest before being sent to Malaya.

On October 5, 1949, Volle arrived in the country which was to become his mission field and his home.

Volle had been sent to the College General in Penang to teach Theology, and said that he felt fascinated by the beauty of the island.

"I remember the best meal of the week was lunch on Saturdays when we were served 'lap cheong' (Chinese sausage) curry," Volle recalled in his book.

Some of the young seminarians whom Fr Volle taught include those who are now retired bishops from the three dioceses in peninsular Malaysia, namely Bishop Emeritus Reverend James Chan (Malacca-Johor), Bishop Emeritus Rev Anthony Selvanayagam (Penang), Archbishop Emeritus Rev Soter Fernandez (KL) and Archbishop Emeritus Rev Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam (KL).

Fr Volle was around when Malaya achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1957, and in 1963, when a new nation, Malaysia was created.

In 1966, after having lived and taught in Malaysia for 17 years, Fr Volle and several MEP priests decided to apply for citizenship.

After a three-year waiting period, Fr Volle was granted Malaysian citizenship in 1969, exactly 20 years after he had first arrived.

In June 1968, Fr Volle left the College General in Penang to move to Kuala Lumpur as there was a bigger English-speaking congregation in the nation's capital.

Just as Fr Volle was getting the feel of his new assignment, he was assigned to the Church of the Assumption, which is located next to the Assunta Hospital, along Jalan Templer, Petaling Jaya.

Fr Volle comfortably slipped into parish life and had also been transferred to Salak South, St John's Cathedral and other parishes in the Klang Valley before returning to Assumption church in 1991.

In July 2003, after he celebrated his 80th birthday, Fr Volle, who was known to be a fan of English Premier League club Arsenal, officially retired but remained in Assumption church as resident priest.

"Come, Follow Me, The Journey of a Shepherd of God" was the first of three books he published after his retirement. The other two were "Parables for Life's Journey" and "Parables for Life's Journey II" – a collection of short stories and anecdotes from his life in France and Malaysia.

Since news of his passing on Sunday circulated, condolence wreaths have been steadily arriving at the Assumption church. – December 29, 2014.