Our Parish Priests
Fr Johan Wongso, SS.CC.
(Parish Priest)
Fr Anthony Hutjes, SS.CC.
(Asst Parish Priest)
Fr Rusdi Santoso, SS.CC.
(Asst Parish Priest)
Fr Sambodo Sru Ujianto, SS.CC.
(Priest-in-Residence)
Brief History
1958 was when it all began
On the request of former Archbishop, Mgr. Michael Olcomendy, Father William van Soest and Father Odo Tiggeloven of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (Dutch Province) were sent to Singapore to prepare for, build and serve a future parish in Queenstown. Fr. van Soest would later become our parish priest and he was tasked with building the Church of the Blessed Sacrament named after the precious Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1958-1963 The Early Years
As they had no place to stay, Fr. van Soest lived at the Cathedral and Fr. Odo. with the Brothers at St Patrick’s. In the early days, it was really tough on our priests as only a small part of Queenstown had been developed at that time. Preparation and fund-raising proved to be a difficult challenge and the church had to be built in various stages. It took years before the project was finally completed.
October 1963, Completion of Damien Hall
Damien Hall was completed and used for worship while the two priests were estatic to finally have rooms to call their own. One used our present kitchen area and the other the prayer room.
1965 Officially Opened to The Public
In 1964, the priest house was completed at last, marking the end of the seven-year building project. And in 1965, our beautiful church was officially opened to the public. Designed by Y.G. Dowsett, the church with its eye-catching blue tent-shaped roof and other ingenious architecture features would become an important landmark in Queenstown in later years.
1975 – 1982 Growth of the Church
When Fr. de Bruin succeeded Fr van Soest in 1967, the church was still heavily indebted, but with the increasing number of parishioners, all debts were paid off around 1975. We were even able to build Damien Centre, a new parish extension for our growing activities in 1982.
1980s New Activities & Programmes Take Flight
As the community of Queenstown grew, so did the number of parishioners. By the 1980s, our church was serving nearly 7,000 parishioners. With this increase in numbers, new programmes and activities were born, some of which we still run today. The Parish Renewal Experience (PRE) which was first held in 1984 is one, such programme.
2006 Rebuilding & New Seeds of Growth
To accommodate the increasing activities of the different parish organisations and church ministries, and to facilitate the needs of our kindergarten, Damien Hall was rebuilt in 2006. And in September 2007, the brand new Fr. Damien Centre was officially opened by Msgr Eugene Vaz.
2013 Our Golden Jubilee
In 2013, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of our parish with the theme “We are the body of Christ – Mystery of Faith”. Highlights of the Golden Jubilee celebrations included the Corpus Christi Mass celebrated by Archbishop William Goh, a gala dinner, a specially-composed song One – in the Body of Christ, a commemorative magazine, the BSC Parish Retreat 2013 and the re-start of the Parish Renewal Experience (PRE).
You may read about us from National Library Board as well.