Pope marvels at Singapore's skyscrapers and asks that the lowest migrant workers not be forgottenSINGAPORE -- Pope Francis on Thursday praised Singapore’s economic strength as a testament to human ingenuity but urged the city-state to look after the weakest, too, especially foreign workers, as he opened the final leg of his tour through some of Asia’s poorest countries in one of the world’s richest.
Francis marveled at Singapore's modern skyscrapers “that seem to rise from the sea” in both his opening speech to the city-state's leaders and again in the afternoon, when he celebrated Mass before an estimated 50,000 people at Singapore's national stadium.
Singapore celebrated Francis' arrival by unveiling a new hybrid orchid named for him, the "Dendrobium His Holiness Pope Francis."
In a common appeal from history’s first Latin American pope, Francis called especially for dignified pay and conditions for migrant workers, who have helped build Singapore into one of the world’s most advanced financial powerhouses.
Many are migrant workers from Pakistan, Bangladesh and other poorer Asian countries.