Pope Francis to arrive in Singapore on Sept 11 for three-day state visit

SINGAPORE – Pope Francis will arrive in Singapore on Sept 11 for a three-day state visit that will wrap up his tour of the Asia-Pacific region.

It will be the 87-year-old’s first visit to Singapore, where he will receive a ceremonial welcome on Sept 12 at Parliament House.

At the ceremony, a new orchid hybrid will be named in his honour, said the Foreign Ministry in a statement on Sept 10.

While Singapore officially established diplomatic relations with the Vatican in 1981, the presence of the Catholic Church here dates back to 1821, and both sides enjoy friendly relations with a long history of interaction.

Former president Tony Tan visited the Vatican in 2016 and it was during that state visit that he invited the head of the world’s Catholics to Singapore.

Over the years, other Singapore leaders have also met the Pope at the Vatican, including Minister for Home Affairs and Law K. Shanmugam, Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, and Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong.

In 2022, Archbishop of Singapore William Goh was appointed a cardinal by Pope Francis, making him the first Singaporean to hold the rank.

While at Parliament House on Sept 12, the Pope will call on President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and meet Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong.

The pontiff and the President will then each give a speech at the state address that will take place at the National University of Singapore’s University Cultural Centre.

Later that day, the Pope will hold a mass for an estimated 50,000 people at the National Stadium.

The Pope has highlighted the importance of interfaith dialogue during his historic visit to the region.

On the last day of his visit, he will meet about 600 young people from more than 50 schools and religious organisations at an interfaith dialogue at Catholic Junior College.

Mr Tong, whose ministry had a hand in organising the dialogue along with the Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore, said in a Facebook post on Sept 10 that Singapore and the Vatican “share a deep common interest in finding different ways to promote inter-religious harmony in today’s increasingly diverse and interconnected world”.

In his post, he noted that the Pope had urged nations to work towards building a better and more just and peaceful world in his third encyclical, Fratelli Tutti – a pastoral letter addressed to the Catholic Church.

“This is especially salient as Singapore sees our diverse multi-ethnic and multi-religious population as an enduring strength which we must carefully nurture and preserve,” added Mr Tong.

Over the years, the Vatican has sent several representatives to the International Conference on Cohesive Societies, a triennial conference on faith, identity and social cohesion that was mooted by then President Halimah Yacob and held in Singapore.

On the sidelines of his state visit, the Pope will also make a private visit to the elderly and sick at St Theresa’s Home, a Catholic welfare nursing home, and meet members of the Society of Jesus, as well as Catholic bishops and priests.

Singapore is the last stop of Pope Francis’ 12-day tour of the region, which has taken him to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste.

Travelling with him are the Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelisation, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle; Substitute of the Secretariat of State, Archbishop Edgar Pena Parra; Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Paul Gallagher; and other senior Vatican officials.