Church of Our Lady of Damascus, Valletta

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Church of Our Lady of Damascus
Church of Our Lady of Damascus, Valletta.jpeg
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Church of Our Lady of Damascus
35°53′55.9″N14°30′52.7″E / 35.898861°N 14.514639°E / 35.898861; 14.514639
Location Valletta
Country Malta
Denomination Greek Catholic Church
History
Status Parish church
Founded1580
Dedication Our Lady of Damascus
Consecrated 15 August 1951
Architecture
Functional statusActive
Architectural typeChurch
Style Neo-Byzantine architecture
Specifications
Number of domes 1
Administration
Archdiocese Malta
Clergy
Rector George Mifsud Montanaro
Deacon(s) Martin Zammit
Dennis Mifsud

The Church of Our Lady of Damascus is a Greek Catholic Church in Valletta, in Malta, observing the Byzantine rite. It is also called Id-Damaxxena.

Contents

Original Church

The original church was built upon the request of Giovanni Calamia to house the icon of Our Lady of Damascus brought over from Rhodes by the Knights of St John when they were expelled from the island by the Ottoman Empire. By 1580 the church was finished. In 1587 the Icon of Our Lady of Damascus was solemnly transferred from Vittoriosa to the new church. [1]

Present Church

On March 24, 1942, during one of the bombings of Valletta, the Church of Our Lady of Damascus was hit and completely destroyed. Many icons were lost under the debris of the church. It was because of the initiative of Italo-Albanian Papàs Gjergji Schirò from Piana degli Albanesi, that the Church was rebuilt and reconsecrated on August 15, 1951 by Archbishop Georgios Halavazis. [2]

Present use

The church is mainly used by the Catholic community of the "Greek rite" of Malta for Divine Liturgy. The church is also used by the Italo-Albanian Catholic Church, and now the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, by Armenian Orthodox Church, by Russian Orthodox, Ukrainian Orthodox and Belarusian Orthodox. [3]

See also

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References

  1. "Valletta", malta-canada.com, Malta. Retrieved on 08 June 2014.
  2. "71 years ago: The Destruction of the Greek-Catholic Church in Valletta.", http://greekcatholicmalta%5B%5D. Retrieved on 08 June 2014.
  3. "Orthodox Churches in Malta" Archived 2016-03-06 at the Wayback Machine , Archdiocese of Malta , Malta. Retrieved on 01 June 2014.