Pope Arrives at Final Stop of Tour in Singapore... Scheduled to Celebrate Mass at National Stadium

Pope Francis arrived in Singapore on the 11th (local time), the final destination of his four-country tour.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to major foreign and local media, Pope Francis left East Timor, the third country he visited, and arrived in Singapore that afternoon. Pope Francis began his tour on the 2nd, visiting a total of four countries: Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Singapore. The duration of the Pope's tour is 12 days, the longest overseas pastoral visit since his inauguration in 2013.

Pope Francis had planned to visit Singapore in 2020, but the trip was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is the first papal visit to Singapore since Pope John Paul II in 1986.

The Pope will stay in Singapore for 2 nights and 3 days, attending various events. First, he will hold a private meeting with Jesuit members at the St. Francis Xavier Retreat House and attend an official welcoming ceremony at the Parliament House. He is also scheduled to deliver a speech at the National University of Singapore event. On the same day, he will celebrate Mass at the National Stadium, which has a capacity of 55,000 seats. On the 13th, he will visit the home of St. Teresa to meet elderly people and meet young people at Catholic Junior College.

After completing his tour, the Pope is scheduled to depart for the Vatican on the 13th.

Singapore has a population of about 5.9 million, with approximately 74% being of Chinese descent, the largest group. Among them, there are about 210,000 Catholics. Buddhism is the largest religion in Singapore, accounting for about 30%, and various religions such as Catholicism, Protestantism, and Islam coexist. Singapore established diplomatic relations with the Vatican in 1981 and celebrated the 200th anniversary of the Church's establishment in 2021.