Saint Joseph's Church (

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

: 聖若瑟堂) is a Catholic church in

Bukit Timah Bukit Timah ( ), often abbreviated as Bt Timah, is a planning area and residential estate located in the westernmost part of the Central Region of Singapore. Bukit Timah lies roughly from the Central Business District, bordering the Central ...

, Singapore. It is located at

Upper Bukit Timah Road Bukit Timah Road (; ; ) is a major road in Singapore extending from the city centre to Woodlands Road on the way to Johor Bahru in Malaysia. The road's 25-km (15.5 miles) length makes it one of the longest roads in Singapore, and the road takes i ...

along the boundary of the

Bukit Panjang Bukit Panjang ( ) is a Planning Areas of Singapore, planning area and New towns of Singapore, residential town located in the West Region, Singapore, West Region of Singapore. A portion of this town is situated on a low-lying elongated hill. T ...

and

Bukit Batok Bukit Batok ( ), often abbreviated as Bt Batok, is a planning area and matured residential town located along the eastern boundary of the West Region of Singapore. Bukit Batok statistically ranks in as the 25th largest, the 10th most populo ...

planning areas, within the Northern District of Singapore. Established in 1845, Saint Joseph's Church is the second oldest church in Singapore, after the

Cathedral of the Good Shepherd The Cathedral of the Good Shepherd ( zh, 善牧主教座堂) is the oldest Catholic Church, Catholic church in Singapore, built in 1847. It is located in the Museum Planning Area within the Civic District. Bounded by the parallel Queen Street, ...

, and is also the last remaining Catholic church to feature a

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

History

Kranji Chapel (1845–1900)

In December 1845, Father Anatole Mauduit, (1817 – 1 April 1858) made his way to the

Straits Settlements The Straits Settlements () were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia. Originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Company, the Straits Settlements came under control of the ...

(present-day Singapore) in search of

Chinese Christians Christianity has been present in China since the early medieval period, and became a significant presence in the country during the early modern era. The Church of the East appeared in China in the 7th century, during the Tang dynasty. Catholici ...

who were labouring away in plantations. Mauduit was from

Coutances Coutances () is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. History The capital of the Unelli, a Gaulish tribe, the town was given the name of ''Constantia'' in 298 during the reign of Roman Emperor Constantius ...

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

, France, and studied Chinese. He was sent to the Straits Settlements by

Jean-Marie Beurel Reverend Father Jean-Marie Beurel (5 February 1813 – 3 October 1872) was a French Catholic priest and missionary who founded the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd, the St Joseph’s Institution and the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus girls' sc ...

and, in 1846, founded a

Mission Station A Christian mission is an organized effort to carry on evangelism, in the name of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries. Sometimes individuals are sent and ...

near the Kranji River, the Kranji Chapel, a small attap chapel. Mauduit was paid £30 per year for his work. By 1853, his

congregation Congregation may refer to: Religion *Church (congregation), a religious organization that meets in a particular location *Congregation (Roman Curia), an administrative body of the Catholic Church *Religious congregation, a type of religious instit ...

had grown so large that he had to build a new chapel – Saint Joseph's Church, at the present site. Mauduit fundraised to build the new chapel that was described as a "

Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

supported by six Doric columns". Many would make their way to Saint Joseph's Church every

Feast Day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...

to celebrate. This devotion to Saint Joseph's Church came soon after the arrival of the statue of the saint,

Saint Joseph According to the canonical Gospels, Joseph (; ) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. Joseph is venerated as Saint Joseph in the Catholic Church, Eastern O ...

, in 1861.

Relocation and rebuilding (1901–2000)

Christians of Saint Joseph's Church faced multiple problems such as

secret societies A secret society is an organization about which the activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence a ...

, tigers, plantation failures, and a dwindling congregation. In the 1910s, the parish priests decided to plant a rubber plantation around the church and this helped to bring Christians back to the district. By the 1930s, Saint Joseph's Church had become a

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

destination for Christians of Malaysia and Singapore. After the war, many families settled in the districts around the church, this was also the

Baby Boom A baby boom is a period marked by a significant increase of births. This demography, demographic phenomenon is usually an ascribed characteristic within the population of a specific nationality, nation or culture. Baby booms are caused by various ...

generation. When Father Joachim Teng (1911–1994) took over of Saint Joseph's Church in the 1950s, he tackled the overpopulation at the parish by beginning the process of rebuilding the church with no resources. One way that Teng raised money was by organising a food and fun fair at the parish every Feast Day, since then, it has become a church tradition. Teng also reared cattle within the church's compound to produce milk which he then sold for income. Teng finally completed the new Saint Joseph's Church in the early 1960s. Saint Joseph's Church was blessed on 30 August 1964 by then-

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Michel Olçomendy. In 1991, the parish installed life-sized

Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Via Dolorosa, Way of Sorrows or the , are a series of fourteen images depicting Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and acc ...

around the church's boundary – these have since become an important part to the church's devotional traditions. During the Season of Lent, Catholics would make a pilgrimage to the church to journey along these Stations. In 1995, the parish’s

columbarium A columbarium (; pl. columbaria), also called a cinerarium, is a structure for the reverential and usually public storage of funerary urns holding cremated remains of the dead. The term comes from the Latin ''columba'' (dove) and originally solel ...

was opened and blessed by then-Archbishop

Gregory Yong Gregory Yong Sooi Ngean (20 May 1925 – 28 June 2008) was a Singaporean Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Singapore from 1977 to 2000. Early life Yong was born into a Malaysian Chinese family of Hakka descent in Taiping, a ...

, this was followed by the building of a new

parish hall A church hall or parish hall is a room or building associated with a church architecture, church, generally for community and Charitable organization, charitable use. In smaller and village communities, it is often a separate building near the ...

in 1997.

Saint Joseph's Church, Bukit Timah (2001–present)

On 1 May 2012, then-Archbishop Nicholas Chia

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

the church. The church's Rosary Garden is another life-sized pilgrimage and devotion trail that was blessed on 25 March 2017 by Archbishop William Goh. Mauduit's

headstone A gravestone or tombstone is a marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. A marker set at the head of the grave may be called a headstone. An especially old or elaborate stone slab may be called a funeral stele, stela, or slab. The u ...

is also located in the garden. On 9 November 2024, a

parish priest A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

was stabbed by a Sinhalese man during a communion at the parish’s monthly children's mass.

Architecture

Saint Joseph's Church was rebuilt by Father Joachim Teng in the 1950s to accommodate the larger congregation size and the new design also showcases the church's Chinese heritage.

References

External links

Saint Joseph's Church (Bukit Timah) official website

Singapore Catholic Church Directory
{{Christianity in Singapore Churches in Singapore 1845 establishments in Singapore Roman Catholic church buildings in Asia Bukit Panjang Bukit Batok Churches completed in 1853 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Singapore