How did the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council come about?
The vision for the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council (APC) is not new. Its formation was several years in the making.
The concept of the pastoral council was first articulated in the 1965 Vatican II Decree on Bishops (Christus Dominus, par.27). The decree recommended that bishops establish diocesan pastoral councils to investigate and reflect on pastoral matters. Since then, many dioceses globally have implemented this concept for a more participatory Church.
In Singapore, Archbishop William Goh announced in November 2021, at the beginning of the synodal process, his intention to launch the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council (APC). This was to begin the process of transforming the pastoral processes of the Archdiocese.
What is the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council?
In every diocese and to the extent that pastoral circumstances suggest it, a pastoral council is to be constituted which under the authority of the bishop investigates, considers, and proposes practical conclusions about those things which pertain to pastoral works in the diocese.
— 1983 Code of Canon Law, Canon 511.
APC Inaugural Mass
Archdiocesan Commission for Tamil Speaking (ACTS) 