The Cathedral of the Good Shepherd

The Cathedral of the Good Shepherd (善牧主教座堂) is the oldest Roman Catholic church in Singapore. It is located in the Museum Planning Area within the Civic District and affords a welcome respite from the city.

History

Chapel

In the beginning, the Roman Catholic community in Singapore attended Mass at the house of Denis Lesley McSwiney.

In 1832, construction began on the first permanent Roman Catholic house of worship in Singapore. Financed through public subscriptions, the chapel, completed by 1833, was a small wood and attap structure measuring feet long by thirty feet wide that had cost about 700 Spanish dollars to build. The chapel, with neither tower nor spire, was on the site of the former Saint Joseph’s Institution building, now occupied by the Singapore Art Museum, and allotted by the Resident Councillor, George Bonham to Father Jean-Baptiste Boucho, a French missionary who had come from Penang. It was located in European Town, an area marked out in Sir Stamford Raffles' 1822 town plan as a residential area for Europeans, Eurasians and wealthy Asians.

Church of the Good Shepherd

By the end of the 1830s, the chapel had become too small. Bishop Jean-Paul-Hilaire-Michel Courvezy, Vicar Apostolic of Siam, considered extending the chapel but was persuaded by the newly arrived Parish Priest, Father Jean-Marie Beurel, to keep the site for a school and to build a church elsewhere. The Governor, George Bonham, offered a site on the slopes of Government Hill, now Fort Canning, but this was turned down by the Bishop. The second offer of land was a site bounded by Victoria Street, Bras Basah Road and Queen Street and was conveniently located near the proposed school, later to be Saint Joseph's Institution. This site was accepted.

In 1840, a subscription drive was started whereby Queen Marie-Amélie Thérèse of France and the Archbishop of Manila contributed 4,000 francs and about 3,000 Spanish dollars respectively. The Government Surveyor, John Turnbull Thomson, had prepared the first design for the church, but it was considered too expensive to build and difficult to maintain. The design that was accepted was that by Denis Lesley McSwiney, a design that was said to owe much to George Drumgoole Coleman's original Saint Andrew's Church. Charles Andrew Dyce designed the steeple which was modelled on John Turnbull Thomson's design for the second Saint Andrew's Church. On 18 June 1843, the cornerstone for the church was blessed by Bishop Jean-Paul-Hilaire-Michel Courvezy, Vicar Apostolic of Malacca-Singapore, and was laid by John Connolly, a merchant.

On 6 June 1847, the completed church was blessed and opened by Father Jean-Marie Beurel. The total payments amounted to 18,355.22 Spanish dollars.

Cathedral of the Good Shepherd

In 1888, the church was elevated to the status of cathedral when the Diocese of Malacca was revived. Bishop Edouard Gasnier, the first bishop of the revived Diocese of Malacca died in 1896 and is interred in the cathedral. His successor, Bishop René-Michel-Marie Fée, was the first bishop consecrated in the cathedral in 1896. Although the church was elevated to the status of cathedral in 1888, the consecration ceremony was performed only on 14 February 1897 when the cathedral had finally repaid its debts incurred from the extension of the nave in 1889. Improvements were gradually made to the cathedral. The dwarf wall, gate pillars, and ornamental cast iron gates and railings around the grounds were completed in 1908. The Gallery Organ was in place by 1912, while electric lighting came in 1913 and electric fans in 1914.

During the invasion of Singapore during World War II, the Cathedral was used as an emergency hospital.

The Cathedral of the Good Shepherd was gazetted a national monument on 6 July 1973.

 

Architecture

The Cathedral of the Good Shepherd is built in a restrained Renaissance style. Its porticos are in the Palladian manner, which was established here by George Drumgoole Coleman. Its plan is in the form of a Latin cross and like all traditional churches, it is orientated east. Its high timber ceiling and its sensitive and harmonious use of round arches lend the building much grace and charm.

Steeple

The steeple, surmounted by a cross, consists of two sections. The first section is a square with each corner of the square marked by three engaged columns in the Ionic order. On each façade is an arched window. The four façades are topped with pediments ornamented with a circle. The cathedral's three bells are located inside this section and are decorated with religious motifs. Cast by the Auguste Hildebrand Foundry in Paris, the bells were originally hung for swing chiming, but electric tolling hammers have since replaced the long ropes for stationary chiming. On the second section of the steeple is an octagon with each corner of the octagon marked by an engaged column in the Tuscan order. On each façade is a narrow rectangular window. The eight façades are topped with pediments.

Entrances

There are six entrances into the cathedral with the one fronting Victoria Street closed to public access. The entrances are porticoed and have heavily moulded pediments. All pediments are ornamented with a moulded circle at the centre and, except for the ones at the ends of the transept and the one fronting Victoria Street, all are surmounted with a cross. The main entrance at the west end of the cathedral serves as the porte-cochère. The two side entrances at the nave are in the form of diminutive porticos and are smaller and less imposing then the entrances at the ends of the transept.

At the main entrance are three doors. Apart from the main entrance, all other entrances, except for the one fronting Victoria Street, have only one door. The entrance fronting Victoria Street had three doors initially until the walling up of the centre door. All doors are double-leaf, of timber construct and, except for the two fronting Victoria Street, all are panelled. While the doors of the two side entrances at the nave are double the height of the doors found at the ends of the transept, these four doors have each a stained-glass window over them.

Over the centre door at the main entrance is the coat of arms of Archbishop Nicholas Chia. It includes the motto Omnia Omnibus, which is Latin for All Things to All Men (1 Corinthians 9:22). Above the coat of arms is a statue of the Good Shepherd in a niche, with an inscription over it that reads I am the Good Shepherd. Over each of the two doors flanking the centre door is an arched window.

Nave

Upon entering the cathedral through the centre door at the main entrance, one will see the statues of Saint Anthony of Padua and Saint Francis Xavier, the four cast iron Composite columns supporting the gallery, and the two cast iron spiral staircases leading to the gallery. Nearby to the left sits a statue of the Pietà and a statue of Saint Joseph stands at the other end.

The eight large windows at the nave together with the other six at the transept and two at the sacristy are arched. There were originally eight large windows at the transept until the walling up of the two fronting Victoria Street. The original timber louvered casements of the windows were replaced by glass shutters after World War II. The stained glasses in the nave and transept were presented to the cathedral by Bishop Charles Arsène Bourdon.

The timber ceiling is in a concave form and is made up of three rows of six rectangular panels. All eighteen panels are ornamented with each having a rectangular border and a circle in their centres. The circles in the centre row are larger and more elaborate then those in the side rows. From the centre of each circle hangs a lamp. The ceiling edge ends in a border of heavily moulded plaster that runs along the length of the cathedral.

There are two confessionals to the left and right side of the nave and they are topped with pediments ornamented with a circle and cross at the centre. The set of fourteen oil paintings on the walls of the nave depict the Way of the Cross. At the crossing is the final resting place of Bishop Edouard Gasnier, the first bishop of the revived Diocese of Malacca.

Gallery

The gallery, which is closed to public access, houses the Gallery Organ, a grand piano, a statue of Saint Cecilia and a trumpeting angel.

Sanctuary

On the wall of the sanctuary is a crucifix. It is framed by a pediment and four pilasters - two pilasters on a pedestal on either side of it. At the foot of the crucifix is the cathedra of Archbishop Nicholas Chia Yeck Joo. Just in front of it is the main altar on which the priest performs the Sacrifice of the Mass. On either side of the main altar are doors that lead to the sacristy. The four crosses engraved on marble slabs in the sanctuary together with the other eight in the nave make up the twelve consecration crosses put in place on the interior walls around the cathedral for its consecration in 1897. They may never be removed and are proof, in the absence of documents, that a church has been consecrated.

North Transept

In the north transept stands a statue of Our Mother of Good Counsel in a niche topped by a pediment and flanked by two pilasters - each pilaster on a pedestal on either side of it. The north transept is where the Baptistery is located. The statue of Our Mother of Good Counsel and the stained-glass window over the door hints to its previous designation as the Chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary. On the walls are memorial plaques to early personalities of the church, notably, John Connolly and Bishop Michel-Esther Le Turdu. The relics of Saint Laurent-Marie-Joseph Imbert can be found enshrined in the wall at the right side of the door.

South Transept

In the south transept stands the Tabernacle in a niche topped by a pediment and flanked by two pilasters - each pilaster on a pedestal on either side of it. This is the Blessed Sacrament Chapel. It takes the place of what was originally the Chapel of Saint Joseph. On the wall to the left of the Tabernacle is a memorial plaque to Father Jean-Marie Beurel.

Grounds

Outside on the grounds of the cathedral near the main entrance is a bronze life-size statue of the late Pope John Paul II, the Glorious Cross of 7.38 meters and a statue of the Virgin Mary. A statue of the Good Shepherd stands opposite the entrance at the south transept.

Other buildings

Apart from the cathedral itself, there are four other buildings within the grounds of the cathedral:

 

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