“It’s a very rare occasion when all Catholics come together to work side by side. All of them have been very enthusiastic and have felt that it is a great privilege to be part of this entire organizing committee, to plan and work for the success of the papal visit,” Cardinal Goh stated.
The prelate added:
“His visit will certainly inspire not just our Catholics, but I'm sure there are many Catholics or many non-Catholics who are on the sidelines. Many of them actually attended the mission schools, the Catholic schools. The seed of faith has already been sowed in the younger years. Many of them perhaps are still trying to find faith in their life.”
Indeed, having grown up in the inter-religious yet officially secular country of Singapore, I hope that many of my fellow countrymen (mostly non-Catholics) will have a chance to learn more about Our Lord Jesus Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary through the Catholic Faith, amidst the hustle and bustle of modern-day city life.
I remember how some of my non-Catholic classmates in the Catholic girls school that I attended joined in our morning prayers and recited the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be.
I recall how a few of my pagan classmates told me that they were interested in the Catholic Faith and hoping to learn more about it.
In light of the Pontiff’s comments, my Singaporean Catholic friends (who take their Faith seriously) were disappointed, to say the least. One of them was in the process of converting his pagan wife to Traditional Catholicism, and I inferred from our brief exchange that Pope Francis’s comments did not help his cause.
I also have heard numerous anecdotes of how Hindus and Buddhists in my country would, on each Saturday, flock to the Church of St. Alphonsus Maria di Liguori in Singapore (locally known as the “Novena Church”, thanks to the Novena Devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help made there) to honor the august Mother of God in Her venerated icon of “Mother of Perpetual Help”. (For the uninitiated, Singapore Catholics have a Marian Catholic tradition honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary in the form of a yearly Novena Procession attracting thousands of Marian devotees (from both Singapore and overseas), at the Novena Church in Singapore.)
Furthermore, I have seen pagans (probably Buddhists by their garb) venerating the Blessed Virgin Mary during the monthly Our Lady of Fatima devotions at the Church of St. Joseph (in Singapore’s Victoria Street).
Thus, when it was announced that Pope Francis, Vicar of Christ, would be visiting Singapore, I hoped that his time here would be a chance for my fellow countrymen to learn more about the Catholic religion, given the seemingly limited opportunities to do so in materialistic and largely pagan Singapore.
In context, despite Article 15 of Singapore’s Constitution stating that “every person has the right to profess and practice his religion and to propagate it”, many Singaporeans still regard religious conversations and evangelization (such as exchanges between Catholics and non-Catholics) as “taboo subjects”, particularly in light of the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Bill to prevent religion from “being exploited for any political or subversive purposes in Singapore”. Effectively, according to the bill and the secular laws of Singapore, any member of any religion, (eg: Catholics) cannot promote his/her religion in the social sphere or realize his/her religious principles in policy making.
Having said that, Pope Francis’ remarks during an interfaith youth meeting at Singapore’s Catholic Junior College that “all religions are paths to reach God” sparked an outcry among conservative Catholics, both in Singapore and in the rest of the world. In light of the Pontiff’s comments, my Singaporean Catholic friends (who take their Faith seriously) were disappointed, to say the least. One of them was in the process of converting his pagan wife to Traditional Catholicism, and I inferred from our brief exchange that Pope Francis’s comments did not help his cause.
With all respect to the sublime office of the Papacy, I do not wish to denigrate Pope Francis nor launch ad hominem attacks on him.
Rather, as someone who grew up in Singapore for a large part of my life, I would like, in this article, to briefly state that it would have been more ideal if Pope Francis had diplomatically (yet assertively) reinforced the Catholic religion and its role in evangelizing my tiny country.
For the Vicar of Christ to make statements reeking of religious indifferentism, is to put Singapore Catholics on the back foot, so to speak. After all, the pope’s recent (and rare) visit to Singapore was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for many Singapore Catholics to hear the pontiff preach the truths of Our Lord Jesus Christ amidst so much secularism, materialism, and inroads by other religions, including Protestantism.
After all, Singapore’s globalist politicians (and their secularized sycophants) cannot deny the huge contributions of dedicated Catholic missionaries in Singapore, including Father Jean-Marie Beurel, MEP (Missions Etrangères de Paris), nuns from the Congregation of the Charitable Sisters of the Holy Infant Jesus, as well as the Brothers of the Christian Schools.
Canonized saints have graced Singapore’s soil as well. For one, Saint Laurent Marie Joseph Imbert, visited my country. This saint, whose report to Bishop Florens, the then Apostolic Vicar of Siam, set up the first known official record of Catholics in the new settlement of Singapore. An excerpt from a letter of Saint Laurent reads:
“I have reached Singapore on the 11th instant and have visited according to your Lordship’s request the Catholics of this new settlement. There are only 12 or 13 in number, all living in pitiful conditions and having forgotten their faith.”
I cannot help but note that Saint Laurent, true to his missionary spirit, was concerned about the Catholic Faith of Singapore settlers.
Besides, the heroic French martyr, Saint Théophane Vénard spent some time in Singapore before his eventual martyrdom in Vietnam.
In a letter back home, Saint Théophane Vénard had this to say, acknowledging the contributions of Singapore’s early Catholic missionaries:
“Very recently, the Christian Brothers founded an establishment in Singapore, they have already a hundred pupils; half of which are Christian, and provide altar boys and cantors for the offices, and they discharge their functions extremely well. Singapore is only thirty years old, and has already at least 80,000 inhabitants; the Chinese being the most numerous. China cannot contain the multitude of its people, and each year a good number leave the country to go to populate the neighboring regions and to make fortune there. This last year, Singapore received more than 3,000 ; the districts in which they live in Singapore are not beautiful. The commercial part of the city is not pleasant to live in, because of the dust and exhalations of the tides. Also Europeans have only their offices and stores there, they placed their residences behind a hill, like country houses sown here and there, in the midst of splendid vegetation; the Catholic church is there too.”
Even the great Mariologist and missionary Saint Maximilian Maria Kolbe celebrated Holy Mass in Singapore’s Cathedral of the Good Shepherd while he was en route to found the City of the Immaculata in Japan!
Additionally, for the Vicar of Christ to make statements reeking of religious indifferentism (though we cannot judge Pope Francis’ intentions, we are left dealing with the repercussions of such statements), is to put Singapore Catholics on the back foot, so to speak.
Ironically, my Muslim acquaintances’ zeal for their religion was one of the reasons that spurred me to learn more and discover my own - the one true Catholic Faith. After all, if they were so zealous in their religion, how much more I had to learn about the Catholic Faith, as well as the truth, beauty and goodness it had to offer? If only the Vicar of Christ had articulated the religion established by Jesus Christ in the public sphere, and at Singapore’s Catholic (and not Muslim) Junior College!
After all, the pope’s recent (and rare) visit to Singapore was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for many Singapore Catholics to hear the pontiff preach the truths of Our Lord Jesus Christ amidst so much secularism, materialism, and inroads by other religions, including Protestantism.
Also, while Singapore officially promotes interreligious dialogue and exchanges, it is no secret that Islam occupies a key tenet in Singapore’s politics and policy making. For one, Singapore has a minister overseeing Muslim affairs, and although people of other religions are strongly encouraged to be cremated (regardless of religious beliefs) in land-scarce Singapore (many Catholics have had to be cremated, both voluntarily or involuntarily) due to escalating prices of burial plots), the Muslims can still bury their deceased despite the long arm of the Singapore government. Strikingly, many people I know have converted to Islam for marriage as the religion requires that the non-Muslim spouse do so. During my school days, some of my Muslim classmates told me they could not enter my school’s chapel as their religion forbade them from doing so.
Ironically, my Muslim acquaintances’ zeal for their religion was one of the reasons that spurred me to learn more and discover my own - the one true Catholic Faith.
After all, if they were so zealous in their religion, how much more I had to learn about the Catholic Faith, as well as the truth, beauty and goodness it had to offer?
If only the Vicar of Christ had articulated the religion established by Jesus Christ in the public sphere, and at Singapore’s Catholic (and not Muslim) Junior College!
With that in mind, Singapore Catholics can only pray for Pope Francis to more assertively state the rights of the one true religion founded by Jesus Christ, the religion against which “the gates of hell shall not prevail”.
An interesting thing to note is that the papal Mass at Singapore’s National Stadium happened on the Feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary (September 12), the day when Jan III Sobieski of Poland safeguarded Vienna from the Muslim Turks. With God, there are no coincidences. It was also very edifying to hear many of my countrymen (and Asian Catholics) sing praises to the Holy Mother of God with hymns like “Immaculate Mary” and the “Salve Regina” (in Latin).
May the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mater Ecclesiae, Destroyer of Heresies, Terror Haereticorum, pray for us.
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