Father René Marcel Joseph Nicolas of the Paris Foreign Missions Society (MEP), a French missionary who devoted nearly seven decades to priestly service in Asia, passed away on July 28 at Saint Theresa’s Home in Singapore. He was 95.
According to CatholicNews, Fr. Nicolas was ordained in 1956 and arrived in Singapore the following year, beginning his ministry at the Church of the Holy Family. That September, he was sent to Salem, India, where he spent more than a year and a half learning Tamil to serve Tamil-speaking Catholics. This missionary formation shaped his pastoral service in parishes across Singapore and Malaysia, including Our Lady of Lourdes, St Teresa, and St Louis in Taiping.
His missionary zeal was matched by his lifelong passion for Church history. For more than three decades, he taught seminarians and lay people, while also collecting, transcribing, and preserving archival material. Many of these documents, threatened by insects and humidity, would have been lost without his efforts. In 2006, he co-authored Going Forth: The Catholic Church in Singapore 1819–2004 with the late historian Eugene Wijeysingha, providing an invaluable record of the local Church’s story.
As CatholicNews reported, Fr. Nicolas also left his mark on pastoral life. While serving as vice-rector of the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd in 1980, he introduced lunchtime Masses during Lent for office workers. The practice proved so popular that the Masses continued after Easter and remain part of cathedral life today.
Cardinal William Goh, Archbishop of Singapore, paid tribute at his funeral Mass, describing him as “a quiet man with a passion for Church history.” His meticulous notebooks and deep knowledge of Vatican II liturgical reforms helped shape the work of the Archdiocesan Liturgy Commission.
Fr. Nicolas’ cremated remains were interred at the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour’s columbarium, leaving behind a legacy of missionary dedication and historical preservation that continues to inspire the Catholic community in Asia.
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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