Pope discusses prayer and vocation with Jesuits in Singapore

On the first day of his Apostolic Journey to Singapore, Pope Francis’ only appointment was a “warm and fraternal” meeting with his Jesuit brothers serving in the country. The figures of Matteo Ricci and Father Pedro Arrupe, beacons for the Society of Jesus and the Universal Church, accompanied Pope Francis’ hour-long dialogue with Singapore’s Jesuits on Wednesday afternoon, 11 September.

There were 25 Jesuits of different ages, mainly Singaporeans but also some from other areas, such as Malaysia to welcome the Pope at the St Francis Xavier Retreat Centre.

The meeting lasted an hour, “it was a very warm, fraternal meeting... the Pope wanted to keep speaking. It seemed that he did not want to leave this very intimate and family-like atmosphere” said Fr Antonio Spadaro, Undersecretary of the Dicastery for Culture and Education, who has accompanied the Pope on this visit and was present at the meeting.