Singapore is abuzz with anticipation of the forthcoming papal visit; I was there in June, during a couple of weeks in the Far East. Last time I visited, I interviewed Archbishop William Goh, who was about to head off to Rome to receive his red hat from Pope Francis.
Recovering from the journey out for my most recent visit, on Corpus Christi Sunday I opted for the 6 p.m. Mass at Good Shepherd Cathedral. In and out in 30 minutes, I thought, and back for sundowners on the balcony within the hour. Be careful what you pray for, as they say.
When I arrived, the cathedral was full to bursting. All a bit keen, I thought, for a Sunday evening. Then I realised that the porte-cochère at the west end was packed as well, and – as the organist struck up with Cwm Rhondda – I spotted the apex of an enormous mitre and the top of a golden crozier making their way through the throng.
The cathedral was keeping the solemnity in the evening, with the Cardinal presiding. Solemn Pontifical Mass duly followed, and all the traditional ceremonies – even including Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament both during and after the procession.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I have every sympathy for those devoted to the Traditional Latin Mass, <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/petitions-defending-latin-mass-keep-rolling-in/?swcfpc=1"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">especially in their current predicament</mark></a>, but I have always found the <em>Novus Ordo</em>, when done in accordance with the rubrics, to be thoroughly edifying and reverent.
In Singapore that involves a combination of Latin plainchant, traditional hymns, tasteful modern choruses, a superb choir, hordes of holy helpers, a sanctuary full of young men in cassocks and cottas, and – <em>pace</em> the Holy Father – a modicum of tasteful lace. They must be doing something right, or I’d have got a seat inside.
I pondered this as I sweltered, with a good hundred others, on the steps. Once the rest of the congregation joined us in the humid heat – behind the Cardinal carrying the monstrance under a canopy and preceded by this year’s First Communion girls in white veils, scattering rose petals – we were all in it together.
A smiling lady next to me didn’t know all the hymns, so just hummed the tunes instead. More intrepid youngsters googled them on their phones. My heart went out to the choirmistress, valiantly trying to give the starting notes to her singers over the cacophony of the cathedral bells.
Bangkok was even hotter, where I soon found myself having lunch with friends at Le Normandie, Alain Roux’s Michelin-star red restaurant at the Oriental Hotel – around the corner from the Cathedral of the Assumption, and Thailand’s answer to Raffles.
It has views over the river and the skyline beyond, but where once the glittering spires of the temples pricked the horizon like golden needles, now there are skyscrapers for as far as the eye can see. The residential ones sell out almost immediately, especially if they are close to the new monorail – the road traffic is terrible.
The Portuguese were the first Westerners to engage seriously with the old kingdom of Siam; they brought their Catholicism with them, like incense on the trade winds, as early as the 15th century. Turning like a tanker, as ever, the Holy See established an Apostolic Vicariate in 1662.
Despite the early Portuguese influence, however, responsibility for Bangkok was soon handed to the Society of Foreign Missions of Paris. The convent opposite the archbishop’s palace has “Couvent de l’Assumption” in large golden letters over its gates, and the French embassy is nearby.
Although Thailand has only had official diplomatic relations with the Holy See since 1962, Siam had fascinated the papacy for ages. The early story is told by Michael Smithies and Luigi Bressan in their 2001 book, <em>Siam and the Vatican in the Seventeenth Century</em>.
The vicariate was carved out of that of Cochinchina – part of modern Vietnam – and was itself later subdivided to create others in the north and east, and to provide another one for Laos. It became Bangkok’s sole concern in 1924 and the present metropolitan archdiocese in 1965; the last three archbishops have been raised to the Sacred College.
During my meal with friends, as successive courses landed – playful amuse-bouches followed by scallops, lobster and monkfish, and a magnificent raspberry soufflé to finish – the water taxis, tourist vessels and freight barges passed by below.
We talked of the exponential changes that the city has undergone in the last few decades, from sleepy Western-looking backwater to vibrant Eastern-focused business hub. Only a few hundred yards downstream, the elegant Portuguese embassy, with its verdant gardens, now faces the huge Iconsiam shopping mall.
It’s a juxtaposition that tells Bangkok’s story in a nutshell.<br><br><strong>RELATED: <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/pope-to-visit-four-pacific-rim-countries-in-september/"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">Pope to visit four Pacific rim countries in September</mark></a></strong>
<em>Photo: The Singapore skyline during sunset, Singapore, Republic of Singapore, 8 June 2018. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images.)</em><br><br><strong><strong>This article appears in the Summer Special July/August 2024 issue of the <em>Catholic Herald</em>. To subscribe to our award-winning, thought-provoking magazine and have independent and high-calibre counter-cultural Catholic journalism delivered to your door anywhere in the world click <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/subscribe/?swcfpc=1"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">HERE</mark></a></strong></strong>.
