The catholic Church and Caritas are playing a leading role in Singapore in responding to the emergency caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic. “Social service and the humanitarian vocation are part of the Gospel,” said Archbishop William Goh Seng Chye of Singapore in an appeal made during Mass available online.

In it the prelate calls on the faithful to help the community and people in difficulty, especially those affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. Despite the drop in funding, “Catholics must support" those who work "for the most affected people, the unemployed, those suffering from depression or in financial difficulty.”

One of the consequences of the novel coronavirus pandemic is the drop in private donations and offerings, which are crucial to charities, reportedly a problem that does not affect only Christians in one of the most modern and developed countries in Asia.

For the Sri Krishnan Hindu temple, in downtown Singapore, this was a key occasion to raise funds as it marks 150 years of activity, but the viral outbreak blocked everything, with collection falling by 45 per cent between January and March, compared to last year.

Gloomy clouds also hover over the future of the Taoist Taoist Choa Chu Kang temple, which has not been able to raise funds since it was closed on 27 March. “We don’t do online banking. Currently, the only way is to make donations at the temple,” said Ivan Teo, a volunteer.

The Catholic Church, which put Masses on hold in February, saw offerings and donations drop. The Society of St Vincent de Paul saw its intakes fall by 90 per cent. For this reason, it launched an online fundraiser targeting Singapore’s 400,000 Catholics.

Some US5,000 were raised, noted the Society’s president, Florence Tan, to fund its charitable work, in particular help for the victims of COVID-19’s economic fallout. More than 2,000 families in need receive aid.

The Methodist and Baptist Churches are also in difficulty, not so the 16,000-strong City Harvest Church (CHC).

The virus, experts warn, seems to have further enhanced divisions and disparities between religious groups, with the CHC able to allocate millions to help its members who lost jobs or saw wages substantially cut.

For the Archbishop of Singapore, fundraising and charitable work are essential "to provide food and medicine to those suffering from this pandemic.” Hence, “Those who can should help people in difficulty.”

The prelate urges those who “have some extra money to be generous and visit the Archdiocese's website to make a donation, each according to their possibilities.”

Since the Covid-19 Circuit Breaker measures are still in place in Singapore till 1st June, the celebration of Masses and other community initiatives have been suspended.