11-9-2024 (SINGAPORE) Pope Francis landed in Singapore on Wednesday afternoon, marking the final stop of his ambitious 12-day visit across Southeast Asia and Oceania. The pope’s flight, operated by Aero Dili, arrived from East Timor, where he had just completed a significant leg of his journey. His visit to Singapore will last two nights and includes meetings with political leaders as well as a public Mass at the National Stadium.
The Vatican anticipates that the Mass, scheduled for Thursday, will draw a crowd of around 55,000 people. During his stay, Pope Francis will also meet privately with Singaporean President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, and former Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
This visit marks only the second time a pope has set foot in Singapore, following Pope John Paul II’s brief 5-hour stopover in 1986. Although Singapore is home to a relatively small Catholic population—around 210,000 out of a total of 5.92 million people—it has a strong Christian community, and the visit has generated considerable excitement.
Pope Francis arrived after spending time in East Timor’s capital, Dili, where he celebrated a Mass attended by an estimated 600,000 people—an extraordinary turnout for a country with a population of just 1.3 million. This Mass was one of the largest proportionate turnouts for a papal event in recent history.
Upon his arrival in Singapore, the pope was greeted by Edwin Tong, the Minister for Culture, Community, and Youth, and welcomed by a group of local schoolchildren who presented him with flowers. The pope’s schedule on Wednesday was intentionally light, with only a private meeting planned with the Jesuit community in Singapore.
On Thursday, he will deliver a speech to Singapore’s political authorities and later celebrate Mass at the National Stadium. He is set to return to Rome on Friday, concluding his 12-day journey, which also included stops in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
