Church of St. Anthony
More to Know About The Church of St. Anthony
The Mandai area’s Church of St. Anthony starts as a tiny wooden chapel honouring St. Anthony of Padua. It replaced a new church in the location in 1960, and His Grace, Archbishop Mgr M. Olcomendy, opened it on December 18, 1960. The little Mandai community received a notice of displacement in 1986, and the current Church constructed in Woodlands. The Church of St. Anthony in Woodlands celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2019. The year 2020 will mark Singapore’s 60th anniversary.
In 12-J Stephen Lee Road, a New Church
Fr. Joachim Teng was assigned as the Chapel’s supervisor in 1949, following the end war. The number of Catholics in Mandai grew gradually. Fr. Teng began work on a new Church in 1957. He raised tens of thousands of dollars through careful planning and diligent work.
On December 18, 1960, His Grace, Archbishop Mgr M. Olcomendy, blessed and declared open the Church of St. Anthony, which perched Church of St. Anthony first parish priest on May 30, 1965. The Church had previously served as St. Joseph’s Church’s outpost in Bukit Timah.
By Fr. John Khoo, “Changes and Improvements to the Church”
There wouldn’t be any more crowds for the citizens of Marsiling at Block 6’s void deck. On Sundays, Feast Days, Days of Obligation, and other significant days, buses began running between Marsiling and the Church in Mandai so that people may attend Mass there. Mr Dominic Soh was in charge of bus charters.
The Church’s public address system was another modification. It installed to allow the sound to heard from every pew. The new Church also has this in place.
For the third time since 1927, the Church has relocated.
For the third time since 1927, St. Anthony has had to relocate his Church from Mandai to Woodlands. We hope the Catholics in Woodlands and Marsiling will make this their permanent parish. One of Singapore’s large churches is this one.
When the government bought the property where the first Church stood for another purpose, Rev. Fr. John Khoo oversaw the building of the new Church in Woodlands. On April 23, 1994, His Grace, Mgr. Gregory Yong, the Archbishop of Singapore, blessed and inaugurated the new Church. The new Church can accommodate 2000 parishioners in its pews.
The Church now has 4500 parishioners, up from a tiny farming settlement of over 100 migrants. On February 18, 2002, His Grace, Mgr. Nicholas Chia, the newly appointed Archbishop of Singapore, replaced Rev. Fr. John Khoo and his assistant, Fr. Eugene Chong, by installing Rev. Fr. Terence Pereira as the new parish priest and Rev. Fr. Vincent Chee as his assistant, with Rev. Fr. Cyril Lee serving as the priest in residence.
Fr. Pereira remained at St. Anthony’s for the following 14 years before moving to the Church of St. Michael in 2017. Fr. Andrew Wong from the Church of the Holy Spirit took the position of Fr. Terence. The Catholic Spirituality Center (CSC) taken over by Fr. Wong in 2018, and the Church received a new Parish Priest.
