The Church of Our Lady of Damascus is a

Greek Catholic Church Greek Catholic Church or Byzantine-Catholic Church may refer to: * The Catholic Church in Greece * The Eastern Catholic Churches that use the Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite: ** The Albanian Greek Catholic Church ** The Belarusian Gre ...

Valletta Valletta ( ; , ) is the capital city of Malta and one of its 68 Local councils of Malta, council areas. Located between the Grand Harbour to the east and Marsamxett Harbour to the west, its population as of 2021 was 5,157. As Malta’s capital ...

, in

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

, observing the

Byzantine rite The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, is a liturgical rite that is identified with the wide range of cultural, devotional, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christianity, Eastern Chri ...

. It is also called ''Id-Damaxxena''.

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 Rhodes (; ) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separ ...

by the

Knights of St John The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there u ...

when they were expelled from the island by the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. By 1580 the church was finished. In 1587 the Icon of Our Lady of Damascus was solemnly transferred from

Vittoriosa Birgu ( , ), also known by its title Città Vittoriosa ('Victorious City'), is an old Fortifications of Birgu, fortified city on the south side of the Grand Harbour in the Port Region, Malta, Port Region of Malta. The city occupies a promontory ...

to the new church.

Present Church

On March 24, 1942, during one of the bombings of

, 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.

Present use

The church is mainly used by the Catholic community of the "Greek rite" of Malta for

Divine Liturgy Divine Liturgy () or Holy Liturgy is the usual name used in most Eastern Christian rites for the Eucharistic service. The Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Lutheranism, Eastern Lutheran Churches and the Eastern Orthodox Church believe the Divi ...

. The church is also used by the

Italo-Albanian Catholic Church The Italo-Albanian Catholic Church or Italo-Albanian Byzantine-Catholic Church is one of the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches which, together with the Latin Church, comprise the Catholic Church. It is an autonomous ''(sui juris)'' particular chu ...

, and now the

Melkite Greek Catholic Church The Melkite Greek Catholic Church (, ''Kanīsat ar-Rūm al-Malakiyyīn al-Kāṯūlīk''; ; ), also known as the Melkite Byzantine Catholic Church, is an Eastern Catholic church in full communion with the Holy See as part of the worldwide Catho ...

, by Armenian Orthodox Church, by

Russian Orthodox The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

, Ukrainian Orthodox and Belarusian Orthodox."Orthodox Churches in Malta"
, ''

Archdiocese of Malta The Archdiocese of Malta ( Malti: ''Arċidjoċesi ta' Malta'') is a metropolitan archdiocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in Malta. History Tradition claims that St. Paul the Apostle established the diocese of Malta in the year ...

'', Malta. Retrieved on 01 June 2014.

References

External links

Official website

Official Facebook page

The ancient Marian icons of the Greek Catholic Church of Our Lady of Damascus in Valletta, Malta
{{Valletta 1580 establishments in Europe Buildings and structures in Valletta Eastern Christianity in Malta 16th-century establishments in Malta Byzantine architecture in Malta Greek Catholic churches in Malta

Original Church

Present Church

Present use

See also

References

External links