Church of the Sacred Heart
Know more about the Church of the Sacred Heart
At the start of the 19th century, Singapore saw a rise in the number of Catholics. The Church of Sts. Peter and Paul get frequented by numerous Chinese Catholics from all over the island. At the time, it was the only church that offered services to Chinese people. Father Gazeau established a church building fund in 1908 as a result. The French priest-architect Father Louis Lambert created the church was built in the French Baroque style and featured two side altars honoring St. Joseph and Our Lady of Lourdes. On September 11, 1910, Bishop Barillon, Bishop of Malacca, officially blessed the church with the joy of the 200 Cantonese and Hakka Catholics who made up the first parishioners. In 1969, 1985, 2002, and 2007, the Church of the Sacred Heart had numerous repairs to improve it. In the most recent refurbishment, Father Paul Tay, the parish priest, built a seven-and-a-half-story church community structure with two shop houses units as the frontage.
Improvements:
The church underwent its initial renovation in 1969, and on February 21, 1971, a three-story Parish Welfare Hall gets built. The top floor of the new Community Building, which opened in 2008, was used for catechism classes, while the second floor served as a canteen and the lowest level served as a small parking lot. The parish priest Rev. Fr. Paul Tay, completed the church’s additional upgrades in 2008, and a 712-story communal building gets built to meet the requirements of the parishioners. The Church of the Sacred Heart has conference spaces, a modern restaurant, a catechism, and prayer rooms. Before it, Fr. Tay was also responsible for starting the Church of the Holy Trinity, now Singapore’s largest parish, and building a columbarium in the Church of St. Theresa.
Community building:
2008 saw the construction of a 712-story church community facility to accommodate the needs of the parish community. The building gets built on freehold property for an estimated cost of S$4.5 million, and it gets finished in 2008 with a 3,100 square meter total floor area. The exterior and structural components of the building get designed to meld perfectly with those of the two adjacent shophouses. In addition to carparks on the first, fourth, and fifth floors, the structure also has a meeting, catechism, and prayer rooms, a music studio, a café and refreshment area, priest offices, and a religious bookshop.
Monday through Thursday, daily Masses are celebrated in the chapel, get situated next to the multipurpose space that was once the cafeteria. Masses get still held in the main church building on Fridays and other feast days that fall on workdays. These days include, among others, the Holy Days of Obligation of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and All Souls’ Day. Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli briefly resided in the church’s community facility, which also served as the Vatican Embassy in Singapore, after being named Apostolic Nuncio to Singapore in January 2011.
