A Priestly Pioneer

Every once in awhile you meet someone who leaves a positive and lasting impression. One of those people for us is Father Michael Arro. We met Fr Arro on our journey to marital bliss as Amy progressed through her RCIA (becoming Catholic) classes at the Church of St Theresa in Singapore. Fr Arro’s self-deprecating sense of humour, faith and French wit made him a man we’ll never forget.

Confirmation at St. Theresa with Fr Arro

Amy, Loren Freckles* and I recently had the opportunity to take part in a very special occasion - celebrating Fr Arro’s 60th year as a Priest. Fr Arro is not only a remarkable man but so is his story. 

Michael Arro was born in Bordeaux, France in 1931. He was ordained as a priest at the age of 24. In June 1957 he set sail with a one way ticket from Marseille, France to Singapore aboard the Laos. Due to a war between Israel and Egypt, his boat journey was forced to bypass the Suez Canal and take the long way around Africa.  His trip took 28 days and two years to the day of when he was ordained, he was dropped off at Clifford Pier (which is now the Fullerton Bay Hotel in Singapore) with two wooden trunks and anticipation to start his new life in Asia. Keep in mind that Singapore was not actually a country when he arrived as Singapore as the country is ringing in its 50^th birthday next month.

Now and then- two photos of Fr Michael Arro and Sister Daniel. One is of them reuniting decades later during his recent jubilee celebration.

Over his 58 years as a priest in South-East Asia, Father Arro spent years in Kuala Lumpur and Penang, Malaysia but the bulk of his time was in Singapore.  His vocation granted him pretty much every job a priest could have from a Chaplin to a Seminary Professor.  His final posting was as the Parish Priest at the Church of St Teresa. 

As luck would have it, Amy and I were one of the last couples who were able to go through our premarital paperwork with Fr Arro. Two days after our meeting he was granted Priest in Residence status and no longer had to attend to the Parish Priest duties which included all that paperwork.

On 3 July 2015, exactly 60 years from when he was ordained and 58 years from when he landed in Singapore, we were able to honor this amazing man with a mass.  The mass included the current Singapore Archbishop, most Reverend William Goh, as well as Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli, who is the Ambassador for the Holy See (the Vatican) in the region, as well as 19 other area priests.  Archbishop Goh provided a wonderful tribute and a bit of roast at the end of the service.

The celebration mass at St. Theresa's. Photo credit: Dinesh Gerard

Following the mass Loren enjoyed his first traditional Chinese banquet alongside 900 of our closest friends to commemorate Fr Arro's impact on a community.  Adhering to customs we enjoyed traditional dishes family style, played games and participated in a lucky draw.  The memories of this night will last a lifetime and we are so fortunate that we were able to be a part of it. 

Until then,

 rhs & AB

Photo credit: Dinesh Gerard, Luke Woo & Raegen 

PS - A special thanks to the Organising Committee and Little Inn, A volunteer group, for their time in making the Fr Arro 60 booklet which provided us with inspiration and photographs. 

*Yes, yes this person’s name has been changed.