15 Mar 2019 (Friday) –  The Catholic Church in Singapore stands together with the Muslim community here and all peace-loving people to reject the violence in today’s attacks on two mosques in New Zealand. We are deeply saddened by the carnage. Such deeds remind us of the importance of promoting inter-faith dialogues.

We must also never take religious harmony for granted but always inculcate in our people the importance of being sensitive in their words and actions in our relations with people of other faiths. It is also important that we must sow the right seeds especially among our young in all forms teaching them tolerance, mutual respect and appreciation of other faiths. We must be watchful that we do not allow any organization or social media or any form of entertainment to sow seeds of hatred, violence and rebellion.

Our thoughts and prayers go to those who lost their loved ones. May God comfort them and give them the strength to move on. For those who are injured, we pray that they have a speedy recovery. Let us not be “overcome by evil; but overcome evil by good.” (Romans 12:21)

Issued by Communications, Archbishop’s Office, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore

02 cn5 2019

Three initiatives have been rolled out following the “Protection of Minors in the Church” Meeting, held in the Vatican from Feb 21-24.

The initiatives – centred around the protection of children and to combat abuse – were announced by Father Federico Lombardi, Moderator of the meeting, at a press briefing.
They are:

- The imminent publication of a Motu proprio (an official order issued by the Holy Father) by the Pope, providing rules and regulations to safeguard minors and vulnerable adults within Vatican City State.
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Should we or should we not? Fr Ignatius Yeo explains


One posture the faithful can adopt during the Lord’s prayer is to simply put their hands together.

Firstly let us take note of the extract published in the Archdiocese’s webpage (catholic.sg):

“Gesture at the Lord’s Prayer: Liturgical laws have consistently not allowed the holding of hands during the Lord’s Prayer nor the raising of hands in the orans position by the laity. (Senate Minutes, April 2018).

The Church through the Congregation for Divine Worship has consistently taught that “holding hands during the Our Father has become common place, but it is an illicit addition to the Liturgy. Holding hands is a sign of intimacy and not reconciliation, and as such disrupts the flow of the Sacramental signs in the Mass which leads to the Sacramental sign of intimacy with Christ and our neighbour, Holy Communion.”1

The flow of the Sacramentals used during the Mass, like the sign of the cross, the beating of our breast at the I Confess and the Kyrie. A sign of our openness to the word of God particularly at the Gospel when we stand in reverence (Nehemiah 8) and we sign the cross on our forehead, lips and heart. 
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