Priest stabbed during mass in Bt Timah church; suspect arrested

A priest was stabbed by a knife-wielding man while he was conducting evening mass at St Joseph's Church in Upper Bukit Timah on Nov 9.

- Ian Cheng

The assailant, a 37-year-old Singaporean man, was disarmed by members of the congregation and subsequently arrested by police officers, said the police in a statement.

He is believed to have acted alone based on preliminary investigations, and police said they do not suspect that the attack was an act of terrorism, for now.

The man has past offences involving serious hurt and misuse of drugs, the police added, urging the public to remain calm and not speculate as investigations are ongoing to establish the motive behind the incident.

He is a Sinhalese who had earlier declared to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority that he is a Christian, said Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam in a Facebook post.

The 57-year-old priest, identified by the Catholic Church in Singapore as Reverend Christopher Lee, was conscious when taken to the National University Hospital.

He is in stable condition.

Police and the Singapore Civil Defence Force received calls for help at about 6.30pm.

A parishioner who asked to be known only as Ms Lee told The Sunday Times that she was attending the 5.30pm mass, and the priest was stabbed some time between 6.15pm and 6.20pm while Holy Communion was being given out.