Singapore’s youngest Catholic priest finds his calling — and wins admirers

SINGAPORE — When AsiaOne, a secular Singapore news site, posted a 14-minute video interview with Father Marcus Dominic Chew on Oct. 21, it introduced him as Singaporeʼs youngest Catholic priest, at 31. By Nov. 8, the video — part of its " Of Beliefs & Faiths " series — had drawn more than 160,000 views on YouTube.

Chew was one of four men ordained as priests by Cardinal William Goh at St. Josephʼs Church (Bukit Timah) on June 1. He now serves as assistant parish priest at the Church of the Holy Spirit , where he was filmed when he was still a transitional deacon.

In the video, Chew admits that as a teenager he was “Catholic in name.” God, he says, was someone he prayed to “when I need to pass my Chinese exam.”

That changed at a morning Mass after an argument with his parents about what to do after his O-level exams. The Gospel that day was the story of the rich young man who was told to sell everything, give to the poor, and follow Christ.

“I felt like it was a direct response to my prayer,” Chew says. Looking up at the priest at the altar, he realized “this guy could be doing anything else with his life.”

He entered the seminary at age 22, straight after National…