SINGAPORE (UCAN): The Church in Singapore marked the official start of year-long celebrations of the 200th anniversary of the arrival of the faith in the city state with a virtual Mass celebrated by Archbishop William Goh on December 13, the launch of a jubilee website and a special jubilee logo, and the screening of a documentary on the social impact of the Catholic Church in Singapore.
The celebrations will end on 11 December 2021, with concurrent Masses to be celebrated in all 32 parishes in Singapore.
The theme for the jubilee year is Ignite and Shine with Faith, in line with the pastoral vision of the Archdiocese of Singapore to shape a more vibrant, evangelising and missionary Church.
Events will focus on renewing the faith of the Catholic community through four aspects: deepen, discern, witness and celebrate.
The Catholic community will attend prayers to collectively thank God for their missionary forefathers and to contemplate the challenges of living out their faith today. At parshes are to organise spiritual and community activities to deepen the faith of their communities
Conferences, talks and events will be organised by Church organisations on various aspects of Catholicism and its impact on Singapore with topics including education, business ethics, social responsibility, serving the poor, strengthening family relationships and interreligious dialogue.
A virtual Christmas concert will be held on December 25.
The highlight of the year-long celebrations will be an eight-day festival from 4 to 11 December 2021. Most activities will take place in four locations—the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd, Church of Ss. Peter and Paul, St. Joseph’s Church (Victoria Street) and the Catholic Centre (Waterloo Street).
Among the planned activities are an exhibition of Christian paintings and 3-D artwork by select artists; a presentation of local Christian literary works and Cana Films Showcase and an exhibition of 200 years of artefacts, heritage and Catholic culture in Singapore.
“So, as we celebrate this pivotal year, we’d like to invite all Singaporeans—not just Catholics—to join us in these activities to exchange ideas on how we can shape a better and more caring society.”
A specially curated Feast of Music will be presented via concerts at St. Joseph’s Church with performances by local artists. There will be walking tours to Catholic religious sites.
Father Valerian Cheong, co-chairperson of the jubilee committee, called on Catholics and all Singaporeans to join the celebrations.
“2021 will be a special year for Catholics in terms of the renewal of their faith. The celebration will also help them to appreciate the Church’s impact on the development of Singapore these past 200 years, especially in the fields of education, health care, social services and interreligious dialogue,” Father Cheong said.
“So, as we celebrate this pivotal year, we’d like to invite all Singaporeans—not just Catholics—to join us in these activities to exchange ideas on how we can shape a better and more caring society.”
Singapore was a Malay fishing village when it was founded by Sir Stamford Raffles who made it a British colony in 1819. Soon afterwards, Catholic missionaries arrived and the Catholic Church is credited with vital contributions in nation building through education, health care and social welfare.
St. Laurent Marie Joseph Imbert (1796 to 1839), a priest of the Paris Foreign Missions Society (MEP), arrived in Singapore from France on 11 December 1821, for missionary assignments to Penang (Malaysia) and China.
He sent a report on the presence of Catholics in Singapore and the need for a Church mission there to his bishop in Siam (Thailand). His arrival is historically viewed as the beginning of the Church in Singapore which also shaped today’s nation-city.
St. Laurent would go on to become vicar apostolic to Korea where he was martyred in 1839.
The Archdiocese of Singapore has 360,000 Catholics —about 15 per cent of its multi-ethnic and multi-religious population of about 5.6 million..
