CICM Vision of Mission

CICM presence in Singapore has always been quite small while, at the same time, leaving its distinctive mark in the overall mission of the Archdiocese. Typical of CICM, the world over, is a vision of mission that leads to a life and work style in close contact with the local people, often at the sacrifice of not living together in community. Members all belong to the special family of CICM, people who, for a lifetime, leave their homeland and, like Abraham, "go for the land Yahweh God will show them".(Gen 12:1) They do not hold on to activities or parishes as if they belonged to CICM to have and to hold. Rather, they hand them over to the local Church and move on to new missionary challenges that may prevail. This has been true for CICM in Singapore in a special way, in that none of its members had Singapore as his first mission assignment. They were all experienced missionaries with a variety of talents. This may, perhaps, explain how a number of activities, now under the responsibility of the local clergy, were started under the inspiration of one or another member of CICM.

Presence in Singapore

As early as 1931, Scheut Missions bought a property at 24 Nassim Road. Apart from being a Procure for the CICM missions in China, the house served also as guest house for many friends, local and foreign. From this place were launched Hai Hsing Pau, the Chinese counterpart of The Catholic News, and a Religious Instruction Course later used by ACMA (Archdiocesan Commission for Missionary Activity); even Marriage Encounter was started from here. By 1988 the Nassim Road mansion had become inhabitable and was sold. The Procure moved to a nearby house at 11 Lady Hill Road. This, in turn, was sold in 1997 when Scheut Missions-CICM moved to an apartment in Pandan Valley.

Areas in which CICM lives its charism in Singapore

China Outreach

Faithful to the founder's concern for the evangelisation of the Chinese people, Scheut Missions - CICM wants to keep that same concern alive in the Christian communities of the Archdiocese. Together with CICM confreres and lay people in Taiwan and Hong Kong, we participate in a vast program of missionary work FOR China and, whenever possible, IN China as well.

Inter-religious Dialogue

Contacts and dialogue with persons of other religions enable us to listen respectfully to the whispering of God's Spirit in the religious experiences of others. Thus we are enriched by other traditions while trusting that our own Christian heritage can resonate with theirs. IRO membership is one channel.

Pastoral Care of Migrants and Seafarers

In line with God's own choice, CICM's preferential option goes toward the poor and powerless. The particular challenges offered by the situation in Singapore, also as a world port, assure that the work among foreign workers and seafarers enjoys the full support of Scheut Missions - CICM.

Missionary and Vocation Animation

CICM seeks to involve all baptised people to take up their own unique ministry in the building up of the Body of Christ by promoting local evangelisation, particularly through RCIA.

A co-founder and active member of ACMA, Scheut Missions - CICM wants to incarnate the universal dimension of the Church, constantly drawing the attention of the particular Churches to the needs of the Universal Church.

To this end, Scheut Missions Friends Committee organizes occasional talks on mission, and Missionhurst, the magazine of the US Province, is being distributed free of charge to parishes, schools, and many individual persons in Singapore and Malaysia.

Furthermore, CICM wants to be a channel through which Singapore Archdiocese can express its own special calling to be a missionary church. Therefore, it wants to challenge, invite and welcome young men to join CICM as ambassadors of Christ in foreign lands.

Confreres

Deceased

Richard Quintens (1892 - 1959)

• Born in Belgium. Missionary in China for 11 years.
• Transferred from China to Singapore in 1931. He was the first Rector of the CICM House on Nassim Road, the procure which served passing CICM missionaries on their way to and from China and the Philippines.
• During the war years, the Nassim Road house was taken over by Japanese Occupation forces. Left Singapore and continued his mission work in South Africa. He returned to his work in Nassim Road in 1947.
• He died on 20 January 1959; buried in Bidari Cemetery. His remains were transferred to the Church of St. Michael.

Jerome Deblauwe (1909 - 1978)

• Born in Belgium. Missionary in Ningxia, China, for 12 years.
• He was expelled from China by the communist regime, as were also Frs. Carlo van Melckebeke, Marcel Wille, Antoon Schotte, and Louis Fossion.
• He came to Singapore in 1950.
• Was Rector and Procurator at the Nassim Road house and served as Spiritual Director to many religious sisters.
• He died on 28 June 1978; buried in Choa Chu Kang Christian cemetery.

Marcel Wille (1912 - 1979)

• Born in Belgium. Missionary in Ningxia, China, for 13 years.
• Expelled from China, he came to Singapore in 1954.
• His main ministry was a correspondence course of religious doctrines, in Chinese and English, with a distribution of over 2000 enquirers in Singapore and Malaysia.
• He celebrated weekly Eucharist on Pulau Bokum.
• He died on 14 March 1979; buried in Choa Chu Kang Christian cemetery

Bishop Carlo van Melckebeke (1898 - 1980)

• Born in Belgium. Missionary in Ningxia, China for 25 years.
• Made Bishop of Ningxia in 1946. Forced into exile in 1952.
• Appointed by the Holy See in 1953 as Apostolic Visitator of the Overseas Chinese.
• Set up office in Singapore and established the Singapore Catholic Central Bureau (now called Carlo Society) for the diffusion of Catholic literature in South East Asia.
• Initiated several publications in Chinese, including Hai Sing Pao, the archdiocesan paper in Chinese.
• He died on 26 August 1980; buried in Choa Chu Kang Christian cemetery.

Antoon Schotte (1905 - 1980)

• Born in Belgium. Missionary in Ningxia, China for 22 years.
• Expelled from China, he went to Congo for 6 years.
• He came to Singapore in 1958 and founded Holy Spirit parish at Upper Thomson Road in 1960. The first church building was completed in 1964.
• He retired at Nassim Road.
• He died on 25 August 1980. Funeral services were celebrated at the Church of the Holy Spirit for him and together with Bishop Carlo van Melckebeke.
• Buried in Choa Chu Kang Christian cemetery.

Andy Altamirano (1945 - 1999)

• Born in the Philippines.
• Ordained a priest in Manila by Pope Paul VI in 1970.
• After missionary assignments in Indonesia and the Philippines, he came to Singapore in 1996 and served at the Church of St. Michael.
• He was active among the migrants and co-founder of the Archdiocesan Commission for Migrant and Itinerant People.
• In 1998 he left Singapore on account of kidney failure and returned to the Philippines.
• He died in Quezon City on 3 July 1999. He is buried in the Philippines.

Frank Depoorter (1948 - 2004)

• Born in Belgium. Missionary in Congo for 11 years.
• He came to Singapore in 1981 and was assistant priest at the Church of the Holy Cross and of St. Michael.
• In 1996, he became rector of the CICM District House, first at Lady Hill and later at Pandan Valley.
• He was active in a variety of ministries in the Archdiocese and often participated in Inter-religious Organisation (IRO) functions.
• He died on 15 March 2004. His ashes are kept at the Church of St. Michael.

Balthazar Chang Chen Chung (1923 - 2005)

• Born in China. Joined CICM as a priest in 1951.
• Missionary in the Philippines for 11 years, followed by 8 years in Hong Kong.
• He came to Singapore in 1976 and was Port Chaplain, Mariners Club at St. Theresa’s Church, until his retirement in 1991.
• He retired at Nassim Road and at the Little Sisters of the Poor (St. Theresa’s Home).
• He died on 17 April 2005. His ashes are kept at the Church of St. Michael.

Louis Fossion (1914 - 2007)

• Born in Belgium.
• Left for China in 1938 until the communist take-over when he was expelled.
• Subsequently he was a missionary in the Philippines where he founded a new parish for the Chinese in Paco, Manila. Later he exercised his priestly ministry in Belgium, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and ultimately in Singapore.
• For 28 years he was the parish priest of Holy Spirit parish. From here he raised funds and built the first church of Christ the King parish.
• At the age of 82, he took up residence at the Church of St. Francis Xavier. In early 2004, he moved on into full retirement at St. Theresa’s Home on Upper Thomson Road.
• He passed away on 26 July 2007, one week short of the 70th anniversary of his priestly ordination. His ashes are kept at the Church of the Holy Spirit.

Confreres Presently in Singapore

Bert Brys (Belgium ^o1925)

• Born in Belgium. Missionary in the Congo for 22 years, including the difficult years of the country’s transition to independence in 1960.
• In 1982, after some years of service in Belgium, he was assigned to Singapore.
• He was assistant parish priest, first at St. Vincent de Paul, then at Our Lady of Perpetual Succour until 1997, when he was transferred to the Church of St. Francis of Assisi in Jurong where he is still in full time pastoral and missionary service.
• He is a great force behind the RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults).

 Contact info for Father Bert Brys

Frans De Ridder (Belgium ^o1940)

• Born in Belgium. Missionary in Taiwan for 15 years.
• Assigned to Singapore in 1981. He first served at the Church of the Holy Spirit and Christ the King.
• As rector of the CICM house in Nassim Road and Lady Hill, he was involved in a variety of groups and activities, among which ACMA, IRO, Choice, Engaged Encounter and Marriage Encounter (Chinese as well as English), and spiritual direction of many religious and lay people.
• In 1995 he became assistant priest at the church of St. Francis of Assisi in Jurong.
• In 1999, his task in the CICM China Programme brought him to China, Belgium and the Philippines.
• He returned to Singapore in 2005 and resumed his many missionary activities, particularly among the Mandarin speaking, while providing regular services at the Church of Holy Cross.
• Since 2007 he is the Religious Superior of the CICM group in Singapore.

 Contact info for Father Frans De Ridder

Angel Luciano (Philippines ^o1946)

• Born in the Philippines. Missionary in Zambia for 6 years. Called back to the Philippines in 1982, he served in the training of young confreres and as Provincial Superior.
• He joined the CICM group in Singapore in 1999.
• His main responsibility concerns the pastoral care for migrant workers, especially from the Philippine. He regularly conducts religious services in many parishes.
• He resides at the Church of St. Michael where he serves as assistant parish priest.

 Contact info for Father Angel Luciano

Robertus Sarwiseso (Indonesia ^o1956)

• Born in Indonesia. Missionary in the Amazon region of Brazil for 9 years.
• He returned to Indonesia and was engaged in mission animation and the promotion of Indonesian vocations for CICM.
• In mid 2004 he joined the Singapore District of CICM.
• Presently he is assistant priest at the Church of St Anne in the Punggol area.
• He is the only Catholic in an all-Muslim family.

 Contact info for Father Robertus Sarwiseso

Paul Staes (Belgium ^o1937)

• Born in Belgium. Missionary in the Philippines for 7 years followed by 6 years in the USA and 11 years in Rome as Treasurer General of CICM.
• He came to Singapore in 1994 and was appointed Treasurer of the Chinese Province of CICM which includes Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Mongolia and Singapore. As time permitted, he helped out first at the Church of the Holy Spirit, followed by ministry at St. Bernadette and St. Stephen parishes.
• Since 2005, he is rector of the Singapore District House at Pandan Valley from where he coordinates CICM mission animation efforts and is involved in various structured ministries (Engaged Encounter, prison ministry, interreligious dialogue). He also regularly helps out in a number of parishes.

 Contact info for Father Paul Staes

Romeo Yu Chang (Philippines ^o1961)

• Born in the Philippines. Missionary in Hong Kong for 7 years.
• He served as Provincial Treasurer of CICM in the Philippines
• He came to Singapore in 2001 and took up residence at the Church of St. Theresa, thereby assuring that Singapore has again a full-time Catholic port chaplain at the Stella Maris Catholic Seamen’s Mission.
• In this apostolate he is greatly helped by his knowledge of Tagalog, Cebuano, Cantonese and Mandarin.

 Contact info for Father Romeo Yu Chang

Confreres who served in Singapore

Jean-Pierre Bénit (Belgium ^o1934)

• Born in Belgium. Missionary in Taiwan for 15 years.
• He came to Singapore in 1979 and helped introduce Marriage Encounter, Engaged Encounter, and Choice in the Archdiocese.
• While being assistant priest in the Church of Christ the King in Ang Mo Kio, he promoted Parish Renewal Experience and the Movement for a Better World.
• He left Singapore in 1987 for a new assignment and was active among the migrants in a suburb of Paris.
• Presently, he renders service in the Belgian-Netherlands Province of CICM, which comprises more than 1/3 of all members of the Institute, most of whom are retired confreres.

He can be reached by e-mail at: benitjeanp@yahoo.fr

Singaporean CICM Confreres Abroad

Peter Koh (Singapore ^o1966)

• The first Singaporean to join the ranks of CICM in 1988.
• He did his training in Singapore, Taiwan, the Philippines, and in Zambia, Africa - the mission to which he was assigned in 1993.
• He was ordained a priest on 21 May 1997 at the Church of Christ the King in Ang Mo Kio, the parish where he grew up and served as an altar boy.
• During his 10 years of mission life in Africa, he served in a rural parish (even building a church), assisted in the formation of Zambian CICM candidates, and looked after the finances of the CICM group.
• As of July 2006, he is the Treasurer General of CICM headquartered in Rome.

He can be reached by e-mail at: peter.koh@cicmmissions.org

Contact info for Father Peter Koh

Fr. Peter Koh's vocation story

Anthony Lim (Singapore ^o1964)

• Born in Singapore and joined CICM in 1992.
• He had his training in Singapore, the Philippines and in Zambia, his mission country since 1995.
• He was ordained a priest at the Church of the Holy Cross, his home parish, on 16 May 1999.
• He returned to Zambia and served as parish priest of a rural parish.
• At present, he is the Superior of the small CICM community in Zambia and in charge of the training of local CICM candidates.

He can be reached by e-mail at: alpleng3@yahoo.com

Contact info for Father Anthony Lim

Fr. Anthony Lim's vocation story

Contact info for CICM Singapore Confreres

Updated by:
Rev Paul E. Staes, cicm
January 2007