Hari Raya Message (March 2025)

Dear Muslim brothers and sisters,

While your holy month of Ramadan draws to a close, the Catholic Church continues its journey through the sacred season of Lent. For nearly four weeks, our faith communities have walked in tandem, drawing closer to God through prayer, fasting, and acts of charity.

This shared spiritual journey serves as a powerful reminder that we must never cease to accompany each other side by side in solidarity, fraternal brotherhood, and genuine friendship. In an increasingly fragmented and insular world that often seeks to divide rather than unite, we are called to uphold our shared humanity as men and women created with equal dignity by God.

During his address at an interreligious meeting at the Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta on September 5, 2024, Pope Francis urged, “Continue along this path so that all of us, together – each cultivating our own spirituality and practising our faith – may walk in search of God. Let us contribute to building open societies founded on mutual respect and love, societies capable of resisting rigidity, fundamentalism, and extremism, which are always dangerous and never justifiable.”

This year, Singapore celebrates 60 years of independence. As a young nation, the words of Pope Francis – during his September 13, 2024 meeting with interreligious young people at Catholic Junior College – encourage us to continue to “Take risks, go out! Do not be afraid!”

This is what our Pioneer and Merdeka generations did with courage and determination to transform Singapore into the thriving nation it is today – the “great capital” with an “international role” and a “great interreligious culture” which Pope Francis described to journalists on his return flight to Rome from Singapore.

The theme of this year’s Hari Raya light-up – #RayaBersama – reminds us to celebrate and thank God together for the many blessings we have received, both as faith communities and as nation, in the past 60 years, and in the years to come.

Let us continue to “go out” with the same boldness to create an ever more peaceful, stronger and closer-knit society for future generations of Singaporeans, and the common good of all.

On behalf of all Catholics in Singapore, we extend our warmest greetings of peace and blessings to you, your families, and your communities as you celebrate this joyous occasion.

Selamat Hari Raya E’id Al-Fitr!

✠ H. Em. William Cardinal Goh

Archbishop of Singapore

Msgr Peter Zhang, CDD

Vicar-General

(Interreligious and Ecumenical Relations)

24 March 2025