It’s not every day that the pope visits your school.

Excitement is palpable in Catholic Junior College (CJC) as they await the arrival of the pope on its college grounds this Friday, Sep. 13.

While many will get to see him in person at the upcoming Papal Mass, far fewer will be able to say they’ve met or even interacted with him.

A few students, however, will have the privilege to paint alongside His Holiness during the interreligious youth dialogue.

Mothership spoke to three students on how CJC is preparing for the Pope's visit.

Pope Francis will be visiting CJC for an interreligious dialogue organised by the Ministry of Community, Culture and Youth and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore.

The dialogue will take place on his last day in Singapore, and also marks the end of his Asia-Oceanic Apostolic Journey featuring stops in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Timor Leste.

More than 600 participants from over 50 schools, as well as interfaith and religious organisations, are expected at the dialogue this Friday.

Art as a medium

In preparation for the pope’s arrival, CJC organised interreligious discussions for students and staff, encouraging them to reflect on their roles in upholding interreligious harmony.

Art has been a key medium to facilitate such conversations.

Most notably, in the form of a batik painting — a tribute to Singapore’s Southeast Asian roots — to reflect the papal visit's theme of "Unity and Hope".

The painting, which is 2.5m wide and 0.9m tall, features different religious sites such as synagogues, temples, mosques and churches alongside each other.

While some may think it looks like stained glass windows, CJC explained that the tapestry of colours on the Batik actually signifies interracial and interreligious harmony.

Each dash symbolises a commitment to standing in solidarity with others of all faiths, CJC added.

The pope will add the final touches to the painting alongside four students from CJC and two others from St Anthony’s Canossian Secondary School.

CJC students Sophie O’Hara and Kavenesh s/o Manivannan will be among them.

The painting of the batik was a “collective effort” by students, staff, and non-teaching faculty, and each person was tasked to "paint a small stroke of any colour they had wanted", shared Noor Aaliyah Ford, who is a Muslim.

Much of the painting work took place at a Teachers' Day celebration earlier in August.

"I thought it was very symbolic to do this on Teachers' Day because teachers are a beacon of unity and hope for the future", Ford added.

Ford is looking forward to meet the Pope, saying it has been a dream of hers since she was 12.

Soon, she will fulfil that dream as a participant at the interreligious dialogue.

Meanwhile, O'Hara expressed her amazement at how the artwork turned out.

"It had been hectic with long queues for everyone to have a go, but the painting ultimately turned out so beautifully", she quipped.

Fellow student Kavenesh s/o Manivannan, a Hindu, spoke about how the artwork will "show the Pope our commitment towards unity". 

Upon completion, the painting will be displayed in CJC.

Kavenesh said:

"It's quite a unique occasion... Maybe 50 years down the road, the 100th batch of CJCians will also see it. I felt really honoured when I painted it."

Apart from the batik painting, the college has also created an art installation titled “Wings of Unity and Hope”.

Featuring hundreds of origami doves painstakingly handmade by students, the doves encompass the prayers and hopes of students for interreligious harmony in Singapore.

After his visit to CJC, the pope will be headed for Changi Airport where a farewell ceremony will be held at 11:20am.

More on the Papal Visit

Pope Francis' visit to Singapore is only the second time that a pope has visited Singapore.

He is set to arrive in Singapore at 2:15pm on Sep. 11.

Several official engagements will happen on the morning of Sep. 12 at the Parliament House and at the National University Singapore's University Cultural Centre.

A Papal Mass will be held at the National Stadium later that afternoon.

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Top photo courtesy of Catholic Junior College, Natalie Ong and @catholic.sg