The Cathedral of the Good Shepherd () is the oldest Catholic church in Singapore, built in 1847. It is located in the Museum Planning Area within the Civic District.
Bounded by the parallel Queen and Victoria Streets, and Bras Basah Road, the cathedral sits within 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 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 owes its name.
History
Chapel In the beginning, the Catholic community in Singapore attended Mass at the house of Denis Lesley McSwiney.
In 1832, construction began on the first permanent 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.
Church of the Good Shepherd
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. 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. In 1847, a steeple was added. It was designed by Charles Andrew Dyce who modelled it on John Turnbull Thomson's design for the steeple added to the Saint Andrew's Church.
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 1888. 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 28 June 1973.
The cathedral went for a major structural restoration from 2013 to 2016 to address structural defects that resulted from new developments nearby. A new annexe building and basement to support the various functions of the cathedral were built. The restoration cost amounted to $42 million Singapore dollars.
Rationale for name
Saint Laurent-Marie-Joseph Imbert, who died a martyr in Korea, was probably the first priest to visit Singapore.
The dedication of the church to the Good Shepherd stems from the note written by Saint Laurent-Marie-Joseph Imbert to his fellow missionaries, Saints Pierre-Philibert Maubant and Jacques-Honoré Chastan, asking them to surrender to the Korean authorities to save their flocks from extermination during a period of Christian persecution in Korea. He had written, In desperate circumstances, the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. They did and the three of them were beheaded on 21 September 1839. News of this and their martyrdom reached Singapore at the time when an appropriate name was being considered for the church. The choice was made at the suggestion of Bishop Jean-Baptiste Boucho.
Significant dates 1833 – First permanent Catholic house of worship in Singapore blessed and opened. 1843 – Foundation stone laid by John Connolly on the Feast of Corpus Christi. 1847 – Church of the Good Shepherd blessed and opened by Father Jean-Marie Beurel. 1859 – Original Parochial House (now Archbishop's House) completed. 1888 – Elevated to the status of cathedral when the Diocese of Malacca was revived. 1888 – Extension of the nave at the west end completed. 1897 – Consecration of the cathedral by Bishop René-Michel-Marie Fée. 1909 – Dwarf wall, gate pillars, and ornamental cast iron gates and railings around the grounds completed. 1911 – Second Parochial House (now Cathedral Rectory) designed by Father Charles-Benedict Nain completed. 1912 – Gallery Organ dedicated by Bishop Marie-Luc-Alphonse-Emile Barillon. 1913–1914 – Electric lights and fans introduced. 1942 – Used as an emergency hospital during the invasion of Singapore. 1973 – Gazetted a national monument. 1983 – Sanctuary remodelled. 1992 – Widening of Victoria Street causing the boundary of the grounds to be moved back. 1994 – Choir Organ built by Robert Navaratnam. 1997–1999 – Major restoration. 2013–2016 – Second major restoration. 2017 – Rededicated on 14 February 120 years after the original consecration in 1897.
Time capsule In early 2016, beneath the cathedral's foundation stone, a shoebox-sized time capsule from 18 June 1843, was discovered and was found to include a prayer booklet and newspapers, and international coins. The capsule is thought to have been buried by French Catholic missionary priests and other founding communities of Singapore.
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.
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 Crouzet-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. During the 2016 restoration, following the stabilization and reinforcing of the tower's structure, the bells were re-hung for swing chiming with an electric motor. 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 than 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 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 The nave is a simple hall without aisles. There are two transepts, also without aisles, and these are screened off by two doric columns on each side.
Upon entering the cathedral through the centre door at the narthex, 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. 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 louvred casements of the windows were replaced by glass shutters with green glass in 1937. The stained glass windows in the lunettes of the nave and transept windows 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 rather simply ornamented, with a simple rectangular border and a ceiling rose at their centres. The ceiling roses in the centre row are larger and more elaborate than those in the side rows. From the centre of each circle hangs a lamp. The ceiling edge ends in deeply moulded plaster cornice that runs along the length of the cathedral. As the height of the east end has been raised at different times, the dimensions of the entablature no longer relate to the columns properly, as their bases have been raised. The cathedral was once lit with Victorian crystal chandeliers, but these have since been replaced with simpler lamps.
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 and an audio-visual control room.
Sanctuary