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The Church of St Francis Xavier in Singapore was established in 1959. In 2009, we have a year long celebration to commemorate this 50th anniversary.
HISTORY
In 1957, the archbishop of the Singapore diocese His Grace Michael Olcomendy, inaugurated the Church of St. Francis Xavier Building Fund. It was to cater to the needs of the growing Catholic community of Serangoon Garden Estate, including the neighbourhoods of Braddell Heights, St. Helier's Avenue, Brighton Crescent and Plantation Avenue. The task fell on Rev Fr Phillippe Meissonier and his committee of 24 members to build the church. The church was designed for a congregation of 1,000 people, a presbytery for two priests, servant's quarters and a parish hall. They achieved the job in a record time of 18 months, just in time for the feast day celebrations in December 1958.
The blessing of the church came on 11 January 1959 and the parish priest named was Rev Fr Rene Challet, assisted by Rev Fr Henry Saussard. The current church has been rebuilt under the guardianship of Rev. Fr. John Sim. By 1997, the parish hall and presbytery was initially rebuilt. This included a columbarium and chapel. The main church renovation was completed in 2000. The building of the Parish Centre & carpark was completed in 2004. The Official Opening by Archbishop Nicholas Chia was held on 15th August 2004. Rev. Fr. Anthony Ho took over as Parish Priest from Rev. Fr. John Sim (who moved to Risen Christ) on 15th Feb, 2005.
RECENT HISTORY
In Dec 2007, Rev Fr Brian D'Souza has taken over as the role of assistant parish priest. In Dec 2008, Rev Fr John Bosco Pereira has become the current parish priest.
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