Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore

Infobox Roman Catholic diocese
Roman Catholic Diocese of=Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore
Latin name of diocese=Archidioecesis Singaporensis


caption=
location=
territory=
population=
rite=Latin Rite
patron=
province=
established=
cathedral= Cathedral of the Good Shepherd
co-cathedral=
leadership=
website= [http://www.catholic.org.sg www.catholic.org.sg]
pope=Pope Benedict XVI
metropolitan=
ordinary=Archbishop Nicholas Chia
coadjutor archbishop=
coadjutor bishop=
auxiliary=

The Archdiocese of Singapore is an exempt archdiocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church. Its territory includes all of Singapore. Its current archbishop is the Most Reverend Monsignor Nicholas Chia Yeck Joo, D.D., S.T.L.. The Cathedral of the Good Shepherd is the cathedral church of the Archdiocese of Singapore.

The archdiocese is made up of five districts covering the entire city-state of Singapore. They are the City District, East District, West District, North District and the Serangoon District.

As an exempt diocese, the archdiocese is not a part of an ecclesiastical province, but comes under the direct jurisdiction of the Holy See. The archdiocese is a member of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.

History

The Roman Catholic Church in Singapore was initially under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Malacca erected in 1558. She was transferred to the Vicariate Apostolic of Ava and Pegu in 1838 and then the Vicariate Apostolic of Siam in 1840. In 1841, the Church was placed under the jurisdiction of the Vicariate Apostolic of Western Siam that was erected from the Vicariate Apostolic of Siam. Initially called the Vicariate Apostolic of Western Siam, the name was changed to the Vicariate Apostolic of the Malay Peninsula and finally the Vicariate Apostolic of Malacca-Singapore.

In 1888, the Church was once again placed under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Malacca when the Diocese was revived. The Diocese of Malacca was raised to the rank of an archdiocese in 1953. In 1955, the Archdiocese of Malacca was split and an ecclesiastical province was formed in its place comprising of the Archdiocese of Malacca-Singapore as the metropolitan see and the dioceses of Kuala Lumpur and Penang as suffragan dioceses.

In 1972, the Archdiocese of Malacca-Singapore was split into the Diocese of Malacca-Johor and the Archdiocese of Singapore with the Archdiocese of Singapore coming under the direct jurisdiction of the Holy See.

Ordinaries

*Vicariate Apostolic of Malacca-Singapore
** (1841-1844) Bishop Jean-Paul-Hilaire-Michel Courvezy "(Vicar Apostolic of Siam from 1834-1841)"
** (1845-1871) Bishop Jean-Baptiste Boucho
** (1871-1877) Bishop Michel-Esther Le Turdu
** (1878-1888) Bishop Edouard Gasnier

*Diocese of Malacca
** (1888-1896) Bishop Edouard Gasnier
** (1896-1904) Bishop René-Michel-Marie Fée
** (1904-1933) Bishop Marie-Luc-Alphonse-Emile Barillon
** (1934-1945) Bishop Adrien Pierre Devals
** (1947-1953) Bishop Michel Olçomendy

*Archdiocese of Malacca
** (1953-1955) Archbishop Michel Olçomendy

*Archdiocese of Malacca-Singapore (Metropolitan See)
** (1955-1972) Archbishop Michel Olçomendy

*Archdiocese of Singapore
** (1972-1976) Archbishop Michel Olçomendy
** (1977-2000) Archbishop Gregory Yong Sooi Ngean
** (2001-present) Archbishop Nicholas Chia Yeck Joo

tatistics (2006)

*Roman Catholic population: 170223
*Churches: 30
*Seminary: 1
*Diocesan Priests: 74
*Religious Priests: 69
*Religious Brothers: 69
*Religious Sisters: 138
*Candidates for the Priesthood: 6
*Baptisms: 3676
*Catechumens: 2160
*Marriages: 821
*Charitable and Social Institutions: 18
*Educational Institutions: 52

Churches

Of the thirty churches, three City District churches namely, the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd, Saint Joseph's Church and the Church of Saint Alphonsus are not parishes. The 31st church, the Church of the Divine Mercy, costing an estimated $8 million to build and equip is expected to be ready by December 2007. It will serve Roman Catholics from the East District.

*City District
**Cathedral of the Good Shepherd - 'A' Queen Street
**Saint Joseph's Church - 143 Victoria Street
**Church of Saints Peter and Paul - 225A Queen Street
**Church of Our Lady of Lourdes - 50 Ophir Road
**Church of the Sacred Heart- 111 Tank Road
**Church of Saint Teresa - 510 Kampong Bahru Road
**Church of Saint Alphonsus (Novena Church) - 300 Thomson Road
**Church of Saint Bernadette - 12 Zion Road
**Church of Saint Michael - 17 Saint Michael's Road

*East District
**Church of the Holy Family - 6 Chapel Road
**Church of Our Lady Queen of Peace - 4 Sandy Lane
**Church of Saint Stephen - 30 Sallim Road
**Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour - 31 Siglap Hill
**Church of the Holy Trinity - 20 Tampines Street 11

*West District
**Church of Saint Ignatius - 120 King's Road
**Blessed Sacrament Church - 1 Commonwealth Drive
**Church of Saint Mary of the Angels - 5 Bukit Batok East Avenue 2
**Church of Saint Francis of Assisi - 200 Boon Lay Avenue
**Church of the Holy Cross - 450 Clementi Avenue 1

*North District
**Church of Saint Joseph - 620 Upper Bukit Timah Road
**Church of Saint Anthony - 25 Woodlands Avenue 1
**Church of the Holy Spirit - 248 Upper Thomson Road
**Church of the Risen Christ - 91 Toa Payoh Central
**Church of Our Lady Star of the Sea - 10 Yishun Street 22
**Church of Christ the King - 2221 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8

*Serangoon District
**Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary - 1259 Upper Serangoon Road
**Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary - 24 Highland Road
**Church of Saint Francis Xavier - 63A Chartwell Drive
**St Anne's Church - 66 Sengkang East Way
**Church of Saint Vincent de Paul - 301 Yio Chu Kang Road

ee also

*Archbishop Nicholas Chia Yeck Joo
*Archbishop Emeritus Gregory Yong Sooi Ngean
*Archbishop Emeritus Michel Olçomendy
*Cathedral of the Good Shepherd
*List of Roman Catholic churches in Singapore
*Roman Catholicism in Singapore
*List of Roman Catholic archdioceses
*Archdiocese of Malacca-Singapore

References

* Johnson Fernandez (2007), "Catholic Church Directory 2006 - Archdiocese of Singapore", The Catholic News Office, ISBN 983-3201-00-8

External links

* [http://www.veritas.org.sg Official Website of the Archdiocese of Singapore]
* [http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dsngp.html Catholic-Hierarchy.org]