SINGAPORE: On Tuesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) announced that Pope Francis will give a state address in Singapore on September 12.
His trip to the area is part of a longer itinerary that also includes stops in Timor Leste, Papua New Guinea, and Indonesia. During his pontificate, Pope Francis has travelled abroad for the longest period of 12 days.
There are about 395,000 Catholics in Singapore. Five years after Singapore formally established diplomatic relations with the Holy See, the central governing body of the Catholic Church, Pope John Paul II made his last papal visit here in 1986.
According to the MFA, the 87-year-old Pope Francis is scheduled to visit President Tharman Shanmugaratnam on September 12 and be formally welcomed at Parliament House.
Following the formal welcome, Pope Francis and President Tharman Shanmugaratnam will deliver the state address at the University Cultural Centre of the National University of Singapore.
Pope Francis will attend mass later that evening and give the sermon to 50,000 people at the National Stadium. He is scheduled to visit the sick and elderly at Saint Theresa’s Home on September 13. Subsequently, he is expected to participate in an interfaith gathering at Catholic Junior College before departing Singapore for Rome.
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