SINGAPORE, Feb 9 — A priest who was attacked at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Singapore this morning said he was punched in the head by a man with special needs.

Father Cary Chan told CNA that 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.

He described the attacker as a regular churchgoer who is partially blind and may not have recognised him.

"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 they arrested a 22-year-old man after the alleged assault at the church on Upper Thomson Road.

They said the suspect will be referred to the Institute of Mental Health for further assessment.

Church, archdiocese call for calm and prayer

The Church of the Holy Spirit confirmed the incident in a statement on its Facebook page, saying that the priest involved was "safe and well.”

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

The church urged parishioners to respond with "faith, prayer, and compassion.”

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore also issued a statement, saying medics had attended to the priest, who suffered slight swelling on his face but was otherwise unharmed.

"We ask for everyone to remain calm, avoid speculation, and to pray for the priest and the person involved in the incident,” the archdiocese said.

It added that further updates would be provided when more information became available.

Man was agitated after his bag was removed, says priest

The incident occurred after the 9.30am Mass when the man began shouting inside the church and creating a disturbance.

"I had to go in and intervene and ask him to follow me out of the church,” Father Chan said.

He said the man had become agitated after someone removed his backpack from the church.

"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 him and called the police.

Despite the incident, Father Chan led the 11.30am Mass as scheduled.

"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 said Father Chan did not mention the incident and "appeared ordinary... no different.”

A churchgoer, 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.

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,” he said.

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

Another churchgoer said the man had been upset with his mother earlier in the morning and was "not in a good place to begin with.”

This incident comes 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 police said after that incident in November that they were increasing patrols at places of worship.