The Church of Saint Teresa:
The Church of Saint Teresa
About the Church:
By mid 1920, the need was felt for a new church to be built near the port, in the South Western part of Singapore. The area had a growing population, though being still rural and there was a number of Hokkien speaking Catholics to be taken care of. The prime mover of the project was Father E. Mariette, parish priest of Sts Peter & Paul in Queen Street. Father Stephen Lee eventually completed the building of the Church and had it blessed on 7 April 1929.
In April 1935, Father Stephen Lee came to take residence in St Teresa. The Catholic population was growing as new housing developments took place due to the proximity of the port. A convent was built in Bukit Teresa and eight Carmelites nuns from Bangkok arrived in May 1938 to start the Convent of Christ the King. Today sixteen nuns are leading a life of prayer and poverty. A small school was then started and grew slowly into St Teresa’s Convent, while a Chinese school was built next to the Church: St Teresa Sino English School. In 1959, it was time to build a new Church in the vicinity and St Bernadette became the “first daughter parish” of St Teresa, soon followed by the parishes of Blessed Sacrament and Holy Cross.
In 2006, the Church was tastefully upgraded and welcomed C.H.I.J. Kellock a primary school of 1,200 girls. Today, St Teresa has a Catholic population of around 2,500, including a few hundred Filipinos and Indian nurses. With new housing estates mushrooming ¨C Pinnacle, Cantonment Towers, Sentosa Cove ¨C more people are and will be coming to the Church.
Website of the Church: The Website of the Church of Saint Teresa
Other Pictures of the Church:
Pinoy Churches 