Church of the Holy Spirit priest says man who punched him in the head has special needs

SINGAPORE: A priest who was attacked at the Church of the Holy Spirit on Sunday (Feb 9) morning told CNA that he was punched in the head by a man with special needs.

Father Cary Chan said the impact knocked his glasses off and caught him off guard.

“He gave me a hard blow to the head … I feel a little shaken, I did not expect a hard blow to come from him,” he said about three hours after the incident.

Father Chan described the attacker as a regular churchgoer who has special needs and is partially blind.

“He likely did not recognise who he punched,” he said. “I know him very well. I think he didn’t recognise me. He can’t exactly see who you are.”

The police said in a statement that a 22-year-old man was arrested after allegedly assaulting a priest at the church on Upper Thomson Road. The suspect will be referred to the Institute of Mental Health for further assessment, they said.

MAN WAS AGITATED AFTER HIS BAG WAS REMOVED: PRIEST

The incident occurred after the 9.30am Mass when the man began shouting loudly inside the church and "creating a ruckus", Father Chan recounted.

“I had to go in and intervene and ask him to follow me out of the church,” he said.

Someone had removed the man’s backpack from the church, and that had agitated him, the priest said.

“He was very angry at that and demanded to have his bag back.” 

Shortly after the bag was returned, the man punched him.

A volunteer from the church’s security team quickly restrained the attacker and contacted the police.

Despite the incident, Father Chan proceeded to lead the next Mass at 11.30am. Parishioners told CNA that he remained composed and did not appear visibly affected.

“I felt like my head was throbbing at the 11.30am Mass, but I didn’t want parishioners to know,” he said.

A 17-year-old altar server present at the Mass said Father Chan did not mention the incident and “appeared ordinary … no different”.

A churchgoer, who gave his name as Mr Lee, said he arrived at the church around 11.20am and saw at least five police officers with the man. He recalled that the man was not handcuffed and was being led away by the officers.

Mr Lee confirmed that the man has special needs and “tends to be in his own world”. He is often alone in church and occasionally stands up during Mass or tries to join the choir.

“But he is harmless,” the 60-year-old parishioner added.

Another parishioner mentioned hearing that the man had been upset with his mother earlier in the morning and was “not in a good place to begin with”.

The Church of the Holy Spirit addressed the incident in a Facebook post and said that Father Chan was "safe and well".

"As the police investigate the matter, we ask everyone to remain calm and refrain from speculation," it said in a Facebook post. 

This incident comes just months after a separate attack at St Joseph's Church in Upper Bukit Timah, where a priest was stabbed in the mouth during a service. The man accused of the attack, 37-year-old Basnayake Keith Spencer, has been charged with voluntarily causing grievous hurt with a dangerous weapon.

After the incident in November, the police said they were stepping up patrols at places of worship.