The Roman Catholic Church in Singapore was initially under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Malacca, established by the
papal bull pro excellenti praeeminentia issued by
Pope Paul IV on 4 February 1558 as one of two new
suffragan dioceses (the other being
Diocese of Cochin) to the
Archdiocese of Goa. The diocese of Malacca was transferred to the Vicariate Apostolic of Ava and Pegu in 1838 and then the Vicariate Apostolic of Siam in 1840. In 1841, the church was placed under the jurisdiction of the Vicariate Apostolic of Western Siam that was erected from the Vicariate Apostolic of Siam. Initially called the Vicariate Apostolic of Western Siam, the name was changed to the Vicariate Apostolic of the Malay Peninsula and finally the Vicariate Apostolic of Malacca-Singapore. In 1886, the Portuguese
Archbishop of Goa transferred the jurisdiction over the Portuguese Missions in Singapore and
Malacca to the Portuguese
Bishop of Macau. In 1888, the church was once again placed under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Malacca when the diocese was revived, following a visit by
Sultan Abu Bakar of
Johor to Rome for an audience with
Pope Leo XIII three years prior. The Diocese of Malacca was raised to the rank of an archdiocese in 1953. In 1955, the Archdiocese of Malacca was split and an
ecclesiastical province was formed in its place comprising the
Archdiocese of Malacca-Singapore as the
metropolitan see and the
Diocese of Kuala Lumpur and
Diocese of Penang as
suffragan dioceses. In 1972, the Archdiocese of Malacca-Singapore was split into the
Diocese of Malacca-Johor and the Archdiocese of Singapore with the Archdiocese of Singapore coming under the direct jurisdiction of the
Holy See. From 1838 to 1981, there was dual jurisdiction situation in Singapore, one tracing authority from the Vicariate Apostolate of Siam down to the present Archdiocese of Singapore and the other with the authority from the Portuguese Mission first from the
Archdiocese of Goa and then the
Diocese of Macau. This was a legacy of the
padroado pronouncement in the 16th century. Dual jurisdiction was ended in 1981, when the Portuguese Mission handed over
St Joseph's Church to the Archdiocese of Singapore and, thus, all of Singapore's territories was brought under the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore. ==Ordinaries==