.gif)
Sacred Heart Church (Manama, Bahrain)
Encyclopedia
The Sacred Heart Church is a Roman Catholic parish in Manama
, Bahrain
. The church is one of only two catholic
churches in Bahrain (the other being the Catholic Church of Our Lady of the Visitation in Awali
). The Sacred Heart Church serves an estimated 140,000 people. The parish priest is Fr. Uldarico Camus.
, Sheikh Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa, with plans to build a church in Bahrain. The foundation stone for the new church was laid on June 9, 1939. Fr. Luigi Magliacani, whom Mgr. Tirinnanzi knew as an expert in the building of churches, was called to Bahrain and given the responsibility of building the church. In just six months, the church, the priests' residence, and a small school were built.
The first mass, the Christmas midnight mass
, was held in the new church. It was formally blessed on March 3, 1940. The parish was the first of its kind in the Persian Gulf
.
The Comboni sisters were first brought in May 1953. They were given the role of taking care of the school. As the Gulf began to experience the oil boom,more and more Catholics were beginning to arrive in Bahrain. To cater to their needs, St Barth's Hall was built in 1958 to provide a place for social gatherings. This building also included the residential accommodation for priests.
Through the next 30 years as the number of Catholics grew the church, now referred to as the 'Mother Church', was unable to cater to the needs of the community. The church underwent a major expansion under the leadership of Fr. Felicio Diniz, the previous parish priest of the church, most significant of which was the building of the Main church which opened in 1990 and which is still used today. Other major developments include the building of the Parish community center and the Third Millennium building.
The church also hosts a number of communal activities, the most famous of which is the Family Day festival which occurs on the first week of February every year.
Manama
Manama is the capital and largest city of Bahrain, with an approximate population of 155,000 people.Long an important trading center in the Persian Gulf, Manama is home to a very diverse population...
, Bahrain
Bahrain
' , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,214,705, including 235,108 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.Bahrain is...
. The church is one of only two catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
churches in Bahrain (the other being the Catholic Church of Our Lady of the Visitation in Awali
Awali
Awali is a small municipality located approximately in the centre of the Kingdom of Bahrain, a small island in the Persian Gulf. Founded in the 1930s by the Bahrain Petroleum Company, it is populated mostly by workers of various nationalities from around the world whose skills were needed in the...
). The Sacred Heart Church serves an estimated 140,000 people. The parish priest is Fr. Uldarico Camus.
History
In January, 1938 or 1939, H.E. Giovanni Tirinnanzi, Apostolic Vicar of Arabia, then based in Aden, came to Bahrain to meet the then Emir of BahrainBahrain
' , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,214,705, including 235,108 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.Bahrain is...
, Sheikh Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa, with plans to build a church in Bahrain. The foundation stone for the new church was laid on June 9, 1939. Fr. Luigi Magliacani, whom Mgr. Tirinnanzi knew as an expert in the building of churches, was called to Bahrain and given the responsibility of building the church. In just six months, the church, the priests' residence, and a small school were built.
The first mass, the Christmas midnight mass
Midnight Mass
Midnight Mass is a Christmas Eve liturgical tradition in the Roman Catholic church.Midnight Mass may also refer to:* Midnight, Mass., a Vertigo comics series* Midnight Mass, a 2004 novel by F...
, was held in the new church. It was formally blessed on March 3, 1940. The parish was the first of its kind in the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
.
The Comboni sisters were first brought in May 1953. They were given the role of taking care of the school. As the Gulf began to experience the oil boom,more and more Catholics were beginning to arrive in Bahrain. To cater to their needs, St Barth's Hall was built in 1958 to provide a place for social gatherings. This building also included the residential accommodation for priests.
Through the next 30 years as the number of Catholics grew the church, now referred to as the 'Mother Church', was unable to cater to the needs of the community. The church underwent a major expansion under the leadership of Fr. Felicio Diniz, the previous parish priest of the church, most significant of which was the building of the Main church which opened in 1990 and which is still used today. Other major developments include the building of the Parish community center and the Third Millennium building.
Current status
The church currently caters to the large expatriate population in Bahrain. The parish consists of Indians, Filipinos, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Sri Lankans and Arabs (mostly from Lebanon but also from Palestine and Syria). The main language used in services is English, although there are services conducted in Arabic, Malayalam, Tamil, Konkani, Tagalog, Telugu, and Sinhalese.The church also hosts a number of communal activities, the most famous of which is the Family Day festival which occurs on the first week of February every year.