Pope Francis To Arrive In Singapore For State Visit On Wednesday

SINGAPORE, Sept 10 (Bernama) -- Pope Francis will arrive in Singapore on Wednesday for a three-day state visit that will wrap up his tour of the Asia Pacific region that include Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Timor Leste.

Singapore Foreign Affairs Ministry (MFA) said the Pope, on his first visit to the country, will receive a ceremonial welcome at the Parliament House on Thursday where a new orchid hybrid named in his honour will be unveiled.

He will also call on President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and meet with Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong.

Both the president and the 87-year-old pontiff will deliver speeches at a State Address on Thursday.

Pope Francis will participate in a Papal Mass at the National Stadium organised by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore later in the day.

On Friday, he will attend an interreligious meeting with youths at Catholic Junior College.

He will be accompanied by Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelisation Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Substitute of the Secretariat of State Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, Secretary for Relations with States Archbishop Paul Gallagher, and other senior Vatican officials.

-- BERNAMA