Cathedral of the Good Shepherd
| Cathedral of the Good Shepherd | |
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 Cathedral of the Good Shepherd
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| 1°17′45″N 103°51′05″E / 1.29596°N 103.85131°ECoordinates: 1°17′45″N 103°51′05″E / 1.29596°N 103.85131°E | |
| Location | 'A' Queen Street |
| Country | Singapore |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Website | cathedral.catholic.sg |
| History | |
| Founded | 1832 (parish) |
| Founder(s) | Paris Foreign Missions Society |
| Dedication | The Good Shepherd |
| Consecrated | 6 June 1847 |
| Relics held | Saint Laurent Imbert and Saint Francis Xavier |
| Architecture | |
| Status | Cathedral |
| Functional status | Active |
| Architect(s) | Denis Lesley McSwiney |
| Style | Restrained Renaissance Revival |
| Years built |
1843-47 2013-16 (restoration) |
| Groundbreaking | 1843 |
| Completed | 6 June 1847 |
| Specifications | |
| Number of spires | 1 |
| Administration | |
| Archdiocese | Singapore |
| Clergy | |
| Archbishop | Most Rev William Goh Seng Chye |
| Rector | Rev Msgr Philip Heng, SJ |
| Designated | 28 Jun 1973 |
1843-47
The Cathedral of the Good Shepherd (Chinese: 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.
Bounded by the parallel Queen and Victoria Streets, and Bras Basah Road, the Cathedral sits within well-shaded grounds. Much of its architecture is reminiscent of two famous London churches namely St Paul's, Covent Garden and St Martin-in-the-Fields.
The Cathedral of the Good Shepherd is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore and the seat of its archbishop. It is the final resting place of Bishop Edouard Gasnier, the first bishop of the revived Diocese of Malacca and aptly houses the relics of Saint Laurent-Marie-Joseph Imbert, to whom the Cathedral owes its name.
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 60 feet long by 30 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 buildings, 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.
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Wikipedia