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Pope Francis arrived in Singapore on Wednesday, marking the final leg of his 12-day tour across Southeast Asia and Oceania that has drawn attention to the Catholic Church’s role in promoting interfaith dialogue. The pope, who earlier visited Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and East Timor, will focus on meeting political leaders and delivering a mass expected to gather around 55,000 people.
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Significance of the visit: This is the second-ever papal visit to Singapore, Asia’s richest nation, after a brief stop by Pope John Paul II in 1986. Cardinal William Goh highlighted the importance of the pope’s message on human dignity, inclusiveness and interreligious dialogue, noting, “Singapore and the Holy See share a common interest in promoting interfaith dialogue and understanding.” Singapore is a nation of diverse faiths, with 26% identifying as Buddhist, 18% as Muslim, 17% as Christian, 8% as Hindu, 6% as followers of Chinese traditional religions and 4% as others, including Indigenous religions. Demographically, the country is 74.2% Chinese, 13.7% Malay and 8.9% Indian, with others making up 3.2%.
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What’s next: On Thursday, the pope will meet with Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, followed by the public mass at the National Stadium. His messages are expected to center on interfaith harmony, wealth inequality and climate change. Local Buddhist fintech worker Erik Hon told AFP that he hopes the pope’s visit will “spread the message of love, peace, and unity to all stripes of humanity.” The pope’s Asia-Pacific visit comes as the Vatican renegotiates its agreement with China over the appointment of bishops.
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