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TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to Popeular History, a library of Catholic knowledge and insights.

Check out the show notes for sources, further reading, and a transcript.

Today we're discussing another current Cardinal of the Catholic Church, one of the 120 or so people who will choose the next Pope when the time comes.

William GOH SENG CHYE was born on June 25, 1957 in Singapore, an island city-state in southeast Asia just off the Malay Peninsula, which was at the time still a British crown colony, but which would soon begin self-rule. I mentioned Singapore when discussing Cardinal Francis, who was born just across the strait in neighboring Malaysia. In fact, I even referenced today's Cardinal, saying I would be covering him in November, but of course things changed a bit since then and I expect you'll forgive me if I don't wait until this November to avoid being wrong about that.

Anyways, as if to underscore how close all of Singapore is to its larger neighbor, William did the philosophy half of his seminary training in Malaysia and the theology half in Singapore. Shortly before his 28th birthday, he was ordained as a priest for the Archdiocese of Singapore, and yes, if you guessed that the Archdiocese of Singapore is actually the only diocese in Singapore, you'd be correct. We looked at the somewhat similar case of tiny Luxembourg a couple episodes ago, but there are differences here, most notably in terms of population density- Singapore is less than a third the size of Luxembourg, but has over eight times the population. The island is basically one big city, home to nearly six million souls. Also, unlike Luxembourg, most of those souls aren't Catholic, with the Church claiming 170,000 adherents, or a little over 3% of the population.

The first five years of William's priesthood were spent as a pastor in one of Singapore's 32 Catholic churches. As a colonial legacy, Masses in Singapore are typically said in English, and yes Cardinal Goh's English is fine. Oops, sorry, I'm supposed be calling him Father Goh for this part so you can pretend to be surprised. My bad. Anyways, his Mandarin is also fine, for what it's worth.

Father Goh made his way to Rome and studied at the Pontifical Gregorian University for the next couple years, winding up with a licentiate in theology. Upon his return to Singapore it was back to pastoral work as well as a professorship at the local seminary. By 2005, he was serving as rector.

On December 29th, 2012, Father Goh was selected as the Coadjutor Archbishop of Singapore, which would normally mean he would become the new Archbishop within the next few months, and in this case meant yes, he became the new Archbishop about five months later.

When he became coadjutor, he had the following to say, quote:

"I would like to pay particular attention to the young people because this is the important lot of people in the church. They are vibrant, they are creative, they are full of energy, so the church needs to reach out to these young people, so I would like to meet them too, and to understand their aspirations and how they can contribute to the growth of the church.”

End quote. Unusually, Archbishop Goh also had a role in the secular government of Singapore, serving on the Presidential Council for Minority Rights from 2015 to 2018.

Speaking of minority rights, when it comes to migrants Archbishop Goh has been supportive, hosting special masses and saying things like, quote:

“Be inclusive and always be available and generous with your time and talents to help others grow and flourish, especially the migrants. Only then will we be able to build God’s Kingdom where fraternity may flourish.”

End quote. Anyone vaguely familiar with Pope Francis knows he's got a soft spot for migrants, and sharing that sense is a good way to get on his good books. One way or another, Pope Francis made Archbishop Goh Singapore's first Cardinal in 2022. Later that year, he appointed him to the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life.

William Cardinal GOH is eligible to participate in future conclaves until he turns 80 in 2037.

Today's episode is part of Cardinal Numbers,

and there will be more Cardinal Numbers soon. Thank you for listening; God bless you all! Thanks Joe! [NOTE: Joe is our first Patreon subscriber, and hosts Prime Factors. Check it out here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2Yk91r75zwnP036vPm0wgI?si=jdPB80FPRJO7g-rd1LnjcA]

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