-Amongst Early French priests feature Archbishop Olcomendy strongly as head as he is bishop. The history of Catholic Church in this region was known as under the apostolic Vicariate of Siam in 1841 to archdiocese Malacca- Singapore peninsula to Archdiocese Singapore in 1977 under His Grace Gregory Yong.
French Bishops MEP during the period 1869 onwards who had control over Singapore catholic community.
-Various MEP's works in buying the land in 1840s onwards and building the first chapels and Catholic schools resulted in
first catholic school for boys in 1852 (Later known as SJI) along bras Basah road and
1854 first Catholic school for girls CHIJ.
Before 1870 the only other church around the bras Basah area under French mission was the Good shepherd church(only later did become anointed as a Cathedral) The word "Bras Basah" stands for wet rice. This means that rice was spread out along the road to dry. The canal is nearby and there were alot of trading activity near the Singapore river which is nearby. Many rickshaws ply the area as well. Coolies used to run the rickshaws in what would be today rather inhumane as they literally carried passengers on the rickshaws and ran with their bare legs. The Cathedral of Good Shepherd was a French Mission (contrast with later on when the St Joseph church which was a Portugese mission. )Following on the French Missionary influence St Peter and Paul Church was built. Schools were part of the missionary activity leading to nearby locality two schools the Catholic boys school(later known as SJI) and girls school built by sisters of Infant Jesus order. Church street is found nearby Raffles place because the history revolves around a chapel built near there. Raffles institution a school named after Founder of Singapore Sir Stamford Raffles was originally at Raffles too. (founded 5 June 1823.) It was also found along the junction of Bras Basah and Beach Road where the old SAFRA club was. Before churches, what were built were the chapels. Priests were trained in the Seminary in France or college general Penang known as St Francis Xavier Major Seminary where the saint was influential in missionary activity. ( in fact there is a St Francis Xavier crab because legend has it that St Francis blessed the crab and thereafter it bore a cross on the body) In Singapore the French Fathers brought in the Faith, as there was no seminary to start with. ( The earliest seminary was built here was the St Francis Xavier Major seminary in 1983 under Archbishop Gregory Yong) ( the minor seminary was established in 1925 and the first seminarian was French Mep Father Batholout) this was the first minor seminary in Singapore albeit late in 1925 and we finally had our own premises for priest trading ground as you can see in 1983. This Archbishop Gregory Yong oversaw many significant developments , seminary formation being one of them.
In the year 1853 Chapel of St Mary was built in Serangoon and was in this time 1852 and 1854 built the Catholic schools for boys and the girls respectively. ( Again this was a chapel that served as a place of worship rather than a church in very early Singapore). It was also during this time that St Joseph church 1852 in Bukit Timah was built near the railway and where there was large land available there. Subsequently St Peter and Paul was built in 1869. Famous names for the places around the church were "Lau Kah Ku Keng khau" which meant the mouth of old jail . Bras Bash before it became the place for traders to dry their wet rice was a place where there was an old jail nearby. Recent exhibits of 700 years of Singapore History at the Singapore National Museum showed the excavation of old jail metal walls, under the Cathedral of good Shepherd alongside broken rosaries indicated how blessed the church was as people were prayerful and devoted to the rosary as early as the 1800s. The road was also called in Cantonese "Fat-lan-sai lai-pai-thong pin" besides the church with the French mission meaning the Cathedral of the Good shepherd which was blessed in 1843. In 1839, Fr Jean Marie Beurel arrived on our Singapore's shores. In Apr 1840, he takes charge of Catholic Community in Singapore and is credited for building the Cathedral of Good shepherd on Bras Basah Road as well as the two schools, with the help of the Laselle brothers and IJ sisters. They were known as brothers of Christian schools and the sisters of the Holy Infant Jesus. Therefore Jesus was depicted as an Infant in famous CHIJ chapels and the sisters certainly combusted to their fair share if Singapore building institutions of learning and development. The Laselle brothers took the name from Clemenceau street also had its name after the first French MEP to arrive in Singapore, who is Fr P. Clemenceau, where sacred heart church now is. The other churches that were opened near the Bras Basah area include the St Joseph church . On 18 June 1843 the foundation stone for the Cathedral of Good Shepherd was also blessed in memory of another French MEP Father Imbert. By 6 Jun 1847 three years later the Cathedral of Good shepherd was up and was blessed. Hence the surrounding for Bras Basah are were filled with Catholic influence and charity. This is because the nuns taught in the girls school and did their missionary work giving necessities to the poor. The Christian brothers also taught in the boys schools and assisted Fr Jean Marie Beurel in the missionary work. Finally the St Peter and Paul church was built by the French Father Pierre Paris. Why was it built? This was because the SJI in 1854 and Cathedral of Good Shepherd in 1846 was too small to minister by Father Pierre Paris. Work was done on the Cathedral whilst SJI took over the chapel. St Peter and Paul started as a house chapel. However as the needs of Chinese congregation and Indian Brethren grew( note there were many Indian who worked as Laundrymen and that's how Dhoby Gaut got its name as these Indian Dhobies worked there) , the chapel by the late 1830s needed a new place and work begun on the Cathedral of Good shepherd. Later under Father Pierre Paris who saw the need to house the increasing different dialect groups of the Chinese and Indian Brethen decided to built the St Peter and Paul to replace the chapel now run by SJI. Eventually by 1869, St Peter and Paul was built. Napolean III contributed to the columns of the new St Peter and Paul Church. There are total 7 pairs of Columns in the old smaller St Peter and Paul church that was contributed by Napolean III of France. Indeed signifying and sealing French influence in Singapore and Catholic Church history here with its impact in proselytizing, architecture and buildings as well as training and schooling and cathechisis
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