The Sacred Heart Church, Georgetown

By the 1830s, many Portuguese in British Guiana had settled on the East Bank of Demerara at Meadow Bank, Ruimveldt and Agricola. As such Meadow Bank was made the center of the Catholic Church with the establishment of the Catholic Mission of British Guiana. In 1857, Fr. Benedict Schembri S.J. of Maltese origin was working in Brazil and came to British Guiana to establish the Meadow Bank Church. Later, the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church on Main Street was opened on December 1861 by Fr. Schembri. The goal of this church was to provide a religious space where the Portuguese would be comfortable with their religious customs and in their natural language. Bishop J. Ethridge S.J. delivered the episcopal blessing on 22nd June 1862. The dimensions of the church was 100 feet by 30 feet, but over time expansion created new areas such as aisles, choir space, gallery, and two wooden towers. When the 1864 Water Street fire destroyed many Portuguese businesses, the church grounds were used to store salvaged goods. In 1866, the two presbyteries were converted into a schoolroom and in 1867 the bottom area of the presbytery was converted into a grammar school. Sacred Heart Primary School is one of the top schools in the country. The church and school were both destroyed by fire on 25th December 2004. On 18th February 2011 fund-raising began for re-building of the church. On 6th December 2015 the newly constructed Sacred Heart Church was opened in Guyana. The images show the Sacred Heart Church through time.

Image 01 - Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church (1913).

Image 02 - Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church (1915).

Image 03 - Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church (1924).

Image 04 - Inside the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church (1924).

Image 05 - Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church (1961).

Image 06 - Fire destroys the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church (2004).

Image 07 - The re-built Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church (2014).

Sources

[Image 01] - Unknown.
[Image 02] - Unknown.
[Image 03] - Unknown.
[Image 04] - Unknown.
[Image 05] - Unknown.
[Image 06] - Unknown.
[Image 07] - http://www.sacredheart.gy/

Bibliography

• The History of the Sacred Heart Church, A Voz Do Portugues 2013.