SINGAPORE – In a city-state whose urban core contains more than 100 high-rise structures straining towards the sky, Pope Francis on Thursday declared that while engineering and finance are critical to those symbols of development, at their core they also speak of a “love that builds up.”

Speaking during his Sept. 12 Mass at Singapore’s Sports Hub National Stadium, the same venue that hosted six sold-out Taylor Swift concerts in March, the pope paid homage to the beauty and ingenuity of Singapore’s infrastructure, saying it has made the city-state of roughly 6 million “famous and fascinating.”

However, beyond the exterior, he urged citizens to remember that “in the end, at the origins of these imposing buildings, as with any other undertaking that leaves a positive mark on our world, while people may think they are primarily about money, techniques or even engineering ability, which are certainly useful, what we really find is love, precisely the ‘love that builds up.’”

Francis reflected on a verse in Saint Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, when he says that “knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.”

“While good works may have brilliant, strong, rich and creative people behind them, there are always fragile women and men, like us, for whom without love there is no life, no impetus, no reason to act, no strength to build,” he said.

The pope stressed to Catholics that “if there is anything good that exists and endures in this world, it is only because, in innumerable situations, love has prevailed over hate, solidarity over indifference, generosity over selfishness.”

“Without this, no one here would have been able to give rise to such a great metropolis, for the architects would not have designed it, the workers would not have worked on it and nothing would have been achieved,” he said.

Pope Francis spoke on his second day in Singapore, and the next to last day of his sprawling Sept. 2-13 tour of Asia and Oceania that has also taken him to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and East Timor.

Singapore is a largely agnostic nation, with roughly 20 percent of the population adhering to no faith, while some 31 percent are Buddhist and 18.9 percent are Christian, with around 6.7 percent – numbering 395,000 people – belonging to the Catholic Church, which has just one diocese.

The rest of the population is divided mostly between Muslims, who make up around 15.6 percent of the population, Taoists, who constitute 8.8 percent, and Hindus, who represent around five percent.

Catholics who regularly practice their faith, attending Mass on a weekly basis, number around 150,000.

Only around a third of Singapore’s practicing Catholic population was able to attend the papal Mass due to seating restrictions at the stadium, which has a capacity of only 50,000. On the other hand, there were rougly 100 priests from nearby Vietnam on hand to concelebrate with the pontiff.

In his homily, Pope Francis said some people might think it is “naïve” to say that “nothing lasting is born or grows without love,” and that the growth of a successful society is due to families and individuals who make extraordinary sacrifices out of love.

However, the proof is in the city itself, he said, saying, “behind each of the works in front of us there are many stories of love to be discovered,” in communities and parents who provide for their families, and in the professionals and workers who are “sincerely engaged” in their various tasks.

“Sometimes the greatness and grandeur of our projects can make us forget this, and fool us into thinking that we can be the sole authors of our lives, of our wealth, our wellbeing, our happiness,” he said, but said that “ultimately, life brings us back to one reality: without love we are nothing,”

Faith is the source of this love, he said, because God loved the world enough to sacrifice his only son to free and redeem humanity, and therefore, “It is in Christ that all that we are and can become have their origin and fulfilment.”

Beyond the masterpieces of architecture and innovation characteristic of Singapore, Pope Francis said the most beautiful aspects of society are “the brothers and sisters we meet, without discrimination, every day on our path, as we see in Singaporean society and the Church, which are ethnically diverse and yet united and in solidarity!”

Genuine charity, the pope said, is capable of respecting the vulnerable and weak, capable of accompanying those looking for direction in life, and it is also “generous and kind in forgiving beyond all calculation and measure.”

To this end, he pointed to the Virgin Mary, who “has given hope to so many people by her support and presence, which she continues to do,” and to Saint Francis Xavier, “who found hospitality here many times during his missionary journeys.”

Pope Francis closed urging Catholics in Singapore to make “a constant commitment to listening and responding readily to the invitations to love and live justly that continue to come to us today from the infinite love of God.”

Prior to Mass, Francis made a courtesy visit to Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and held a private meeting with the Prime Minister, Lawrence Wong.

On Friday, his last day in the country, the pope will hold a meeting with young people before heading to the airport and boarding his flight back to Rome.

Follow Elise Ann Allen on X: @eliseannallen