Before the church was built, there are two churches which are located at the opposite side of Klang River – Church of our Lady of Lourdes (1928) and Church of St. Anne (1961) at Port Klang. Not wanting to leave his faithful Chinese parishioners without a place of worship, Archbishop Dominic Vendargon petitioned to open a new church.
God provided the land and the Archdiocese managed to purchase a piece of land in Taman Bukit Raja (now known as Taman Berkerley). With Fr. Giraud enthusiastic experience from building the Assumption Church in the 1959, he was entrusted the responsibility of raising funds and building of this new church. The Church of the Holy Redeemer Klang was completed and consecrated in 1970 by Archbishop Dominic Vendargon.
Fr. Giraud was then appointed the Parish Priest. This was because he can speak fluent mandarin and he knew well about the Chinese culture and its custom. Hence, it was the best arrangement and due to his multi-lingual ability, he was able to celebrate mass in both mandarin and English. He was a simple but a dedicated priest. He usually rode a big bike travelling around Klang visiting parishioners, to help people flourish in faith and building strong community.
"In December 1953, I came to the Holy Rosary Church in Brickfields. During my 13 years in the Holy Rosary Church, I helped to build the Assumption Church in Petaling Jaya. In 1966 His Grace Archbishop D. Vendargon informed me of the need to built another Church in Klang for the Chinese Parishioners and in February 1966 I agreed to be transferred to Our Lady of Lourdes Church. My main task was to assist Fr. Swaminathan in taking care of the Chinese parishioners.
My other mission is to look for a suitable piece of land in the part of Klang. Finally together with the late Datuk Lee Eng Teh we found a two acre site in Taman Berkeley at RM1.50 per square foot. My next task was to organize the building fund committee. Datuk Lee Eng Teh was the Chairman and Mr. Emmanual was the Secretary at this committee. Many sales and lotteries were held to collect money for the building of the Church. The approximate cost was RM580, 000 and this include the cost of the land, the church, the parochial house and the two classroom for a kindergarden.
The people were very co-operative in collecting the money. Rev. Fr. Swaminathan passed away in 1968 and I became the Parish Priest of Our Lady of Lourdes. A sum of RM50, 000 was donated from the savings of Our Lady of Lourdes Church towards the later part of 1969 and on the 20th September 1970 our church was inaugurated by His Grace, Archbishop Vendargon." ... as narrated by Fr. Giraud.
Fr. Gorard Giraud - the Founder
Fr. Giraud served 11 years (1970 – 1981) as parish priest. Late Rev. Fr. Anthony Chan was arranged to serve while Fr. Giraud was away to France in 1980. There was a period of time the church has two priests after Fr. Giraud's return. Until 1981, Fr. Anthony Chan was appointed the parish priest of the church. Fr. Anthony was from Guanxi Province and hence he spoke mandarin in Cantonese slang. Together with Fr. So and Fr. Lam, there were given the mission to serve the Chinese community in Malaysia. He was an evangelist and number of parishioners grew over time. A new hall was built between the parochial house and the kindergarden classroom. The hall is used for the feasts celebration and various church events. It is also for rent to the community for badminton session for church additional income. Fr. Anthony served as parish priest to year 1997.
Rev. Fr. Reyamond Pereira was appointed the parish priest of the Church from 1997 to 2005. His contribution towards to church brings liveliness and solidarity to the people. He is able to speak English, Bahasa, Mandarin, and Tamil. The faith of the people grew as did the numbers of parishioners. The church left and right wing were expanded creating more seating space to the people. A new Grotto was built near the main gate on the left. The statue of Jesus Holy Redeemer was placed in between the gates of the church entrance which is directly in front of the church entrance. The sanctuary was renovated with new crucifix, new altar table and new tabernacle.
Rev. Fr. Joachim Tan was transferred to the Church in 2005. He was a respectable and knowledgeable priest. In addition, he is a magnet to the children of the parish. With his devoted heart and experience in theology, the people continue to strengthen their faith. Fr. Joachim served in the parish for 7 years (2012).
In 2012, Rev. Fr. Mari Arokiam was appointed the new parish priest. He wasted no time continue to advance the ministry and the BEC. His homily and his commitment to the parish started to bring the people into unity. In 2013, the First Class Relics of St. Faustina was obtained. This type of relics are usually found at the representative church such as Church of the Divine Mercy. It was consecrated and it now located at the right side of the sanctuary with a statue of the Divine Mercy at the top. Many miracles had happened since the relics was in the church. Choir was also formed during his time and took its roots since then. Fr. Mari also had the honor of inviting His Grace the Apostolic Nuncio Joseph Salvador Marino, to celebrate Easter Vigil and baptised the RCIA Elects. Due to his health condition, he was transferred to Assumption Church residence. In his replacement was Rev. Father Jestus Pereira who was appointed as the administrator from 2014 – 2015.
In 2015, Rev. Father Clement Lim was transferred to the Church. Fr. Clement literally and spiritually transformed the brightened the church in a short time. He put in stained glass windows, re-enhance the sound system and renovated the sanctuary giving the parish a more meaningful and picturesque altar for worshipping. More classroom with air-conditioning system for the catechism were restored for the young children and the youth. More teachers are recruited and more interactive catechism program are formed and administered. He saw it as much needed facility for these young generations and it was proven right. A new Grotto was completed and consecrated on the 1st October 2015 – a more sacred prayer area for the faithful with seats and beautiful plants. Divine Mercy Prayer group was established which Divine Mercy Chaplet is held every Wednesday and Friday at 3pm. Stations of the Cross were installed around the church perimeter. The Youth was reformed with new leaders of a new generation ready to worship in smart-digital era.
During his present tenure, he also transformed the left wing of the church into a small chapel with air-conditioning system. The altar was setup similarly to the one that was built by the first parish priest – Fr. Giraud. The sculpture of Pietà that was shipped from Europe during Fr. Giraud is now placed on the right of the altar. The chapel was blessed and called “Chapel of Pietà”. Weekday mass are now celebrated in the Chapel. More formation and archdiocese programs are also organized by the parish in this church to bring unity and integrity of the parish. In addition, sunset mass are animated by the BEC and various ministry. Every third Sunday 11am Mass are animated by either the Children or the Youth. In September 2017, the church was installed with air-conditioning system.
The church also played host to 2 Sacerdotal Ordinations; Rev. Fr. Andrew Kooi on 13th April 2008, and Rev. Fr. Kenneth Gopal on 1st October 2011. Both priests grew up in this parish.