Nicholas Gerald Chia Yeck Joo was a Singaporean Roman Catholic prelate who was the third Archbishop of Singapore and the first Singapore-born clergyman to hold the office.
22 Facts About Nicholas Chia
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On 7 October 2001, Chia was ordained as Archbishop of Singapore.
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Nicholas Chia officially retired as Archbishop of Singapore on 18 May 2013, and was succeeded by Archbishop William Goh.
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Nicholas Chia was born in Singapore on 8 April 1938 to Catholic parents, a secretary and a housewife.
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Nicholas Chia was the fourth child in a family of four boys and two girls.
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Nicholas Chia completed his secondary education at Holy Innocents English School, and thereafter started his training to be a priest.
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Nicholas Chia attended the St Francis Xavier's minor seminary for three years, and then Penang's major seminary between 1955 through 1963.
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Nicholas Chia continued with his theological studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome from 1969 to 1971.
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In 1978, Nicholas Chia founded Singapore Archdiocese's Pastoral Institute and remained its director until 1990.
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Nicholas Chia was the first parish priest at the Church of Holy Cross in Clementi from 1980 till his appointment as Archbishop in 2001.
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Nicholas Chia was the chaplain to Catholic students in the National University of Singapore since 1990.
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Since 1995, Nicholas Chia was the Chancellor, and Procurator of the archdiocese, taking on the responsibility of the diocesan documentation and finances respectively.
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Nicholas Chia received his episcopal consecration on 7 October 2001 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, with Archbishop Adriano Bernardini, the Vatican's ambassador to Singapore officiating the ceremony and in presence of 12,000 attendees.
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On 23 December, Nicholas Chia ordered a reshuffle of priests in the parishes, with 33 priests being either promoted or transferred into other parishes or offices in an effort to renew the Church with most of the appointments taking effect by February 2003.
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Nicholas Chia testified against Kang during the trial, but wrote a letter to the judge to appeal for a lighter sentence.
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On 2 May 2009, after a group of conservative Christian women took over the leadership of Association of Women for Action and Research, Nicholas Chia instructed that the Catholic priests should not comment on the event as secular organisations should remain secular, echoing the position stated by Anglican Archbishop John Chew and other religious leaders of Buddhist, Taoist, and Protestant bodies.
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Nicholas Chia however had withdrawn the letters after political activist Alex Au wrote about the letters as he was concerned that the letters would not be used in a manner he had intended, and was not willing to let the Church and the office of Archbishop be dragged into a political game and affect the country's social harmony.
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On 31 December 2012, it was announced that Nicholas Chia would be succeeded by William Goh, rector of the St Francis Xavier Major Seminary.
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Nicholas Chia reached the retirement age of 75 in 2013 and submitted his resignation to the Holy See.
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Nicholas Chia's resignation was accepted by Pope Benedict XVI on 18 May 2013.
21.
On 17 December 2024, the Archbishop's Communications Office announced that Nicholas Chia was critically ill.
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Nicholas Chia died later that day, at St Theresa's Home, where he had been residing.