5 things about Pope Francis and his visit to Singapore

SINGAPORE: Pope Francis will arrive in Singapore on Wednesday (Sep 11) for the last leg of his gruelling trip to the Asia Pacific.
After visiting Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste, the head of the Catholic Church will be in Singapore from Wednesday to Friday.
Here are five things you should know:
Pope Francis was elected in 2013 and is the spiritual leader of 1.3 billion Roman Catholics worldwide.
Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in 1936 to Italian immigrants from Argentina, he is the first Latin American to lead the Catholic Church.
He trained as a chemical technician before he became a priest.
Four days before his 33rd birthday, he was ordained as a priest.
In 1992, he was appointed the bishop of Auca and Auxiliary of Buenos Aires. Five years later, he became Coadjutor Archbishop of the city.
Upon the passing of Cardinal Antonio Quarracino, Francis became Archbishop in 1998. He was created Cardinal in 2001.
After five rounds of ballots in 2013, he was elected as the pope.
Pope Francis has a packed schedule while he is in Singapore.
He is set to arrive in Singapore from Dili, Timor-Leste at about 2.15pm on Wednesday with Vatican staff and officials.
According to the Vatican, he will hold a private meeting with the members of the Society of Jesus at the St Francis Xavier Retreat Centre.
The following day, he will receive an official welcome at Parliament House at 9am. He will also meet President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.
At about 10.30am on Thursday, he will be at the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Cultural Centre theatre for a meeting with “authorities, civil society and diplomatic corps”.
Mr Tharman and Pope Francis will both deliver speeches at the state address at NUS. 
In the afternoon, he will preside over mass at the National Stadium, which will start at 5.15pm.
All tickets have been allocated and those going are encouraged to arrive as early as 12.30pm for bag checks. The gates open at 1pm and will close at 3.45pm.
Pope Francis will make a tour around the stadium pitch to greet people on his Popemobile at about 4.30pm before mass starts.
On Friday morning, Pope Francis will visit a group of elderly people at St Theresa Home – a closed-door event.
He will also hold an inter-religious dialogue with youths at Catholic Junior College before leaving Singapore just before noon.
Those who wish to watch the mass can do so via a livestream on the official website. 
Pope Francis is travelling with his personal security and ministers of the Vatican state. There are about 80 people in his delegation.
One of them is Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, a pro-prefect for the Dicastery for Evangelisation. He is from the Philippines and was appointed Archbishop of Manila in 2011.
Cardinal William Goh, the Archbishop of Singapore, will also join his delegation once he arrives in the country.
The Popemobile is a specially designed vehicle that is used by the pope during public appearances. There have been different designs over the years.
Indonesian media outlets reported that defence company Pindad built the popemobile mobile for Pope Francis to use during a mass in Jakarta.
It is built on Pindad’s tactical vehicle Maung MV3, with modifications for comfort and safety.
32,000km: This is how far Pope Francis will travel in his Asia Pacific trip – the most challenging and longest of his papacy.
87: How old Pope Francis is – he turns 88 on Dec 17.
50,000: The number of people attending the papal mass at the National Stadium.
5,000: The number of volunteers helping to organise Pope Francis’ visit to Singapore. They include 1,600 choir members, 128 medics and nurses and over 650 wardens.
3: Three chairs have been specially designed for Pope Francis for his use during the mass and his meeting with youths. They are created by Roseline Tan and Govindharaj Muthiah.
37: The last time a pope visited Singapore was more than 37 years ago in 1986, when Pope John Paul II made a brief stop in Singapore.
According to the census in 2020, there are about 395,000 Catholics in Singapore.
Besides the 29 parish churches and three devotional churches, there are also 53 schools and pre-schools, two healthcare institutions and 47 humanitarian organisations.
The first Roman Catholic chapel was opened and blessed on Jun 9, 1833 and was located where the Singapore Art Museum currently is.
Singapore’s first Catholic church, the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd, was built in 1847.
Other churches built in the 1800s include St Joseph’s Church in Bukit Timah, the Church of the Nativity, the Church of Saints Peter and Paul and the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes.