The Sacred Heart Cathedral ( lo, ວັດກາໂທລິກ ນະຄອນວຽງຈັນ; french: Cathédrale du Sacré-Cœur de Vientiane), also called Vientiane Cathedral, is the name given to a Roman Catholic cathedral in the city of

Vientiane Vientiane ( , ; lo, ວຽງຈັນ, ''Viangchan'', ) is the capital and largest city of Laos. Vientiane is divided administratively into 9 cities with a total area of only approx. 3,920 square kilometres and is located on the banks of ...

, the capital of

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

. The temple is situated at the Rue de la Mission and near the French Embassy in Laos. The cathedral was built in 1928, when Laos was part of the

French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...

, at the time of the

Paris Foreign Missions Society The Society of Foreign Missions of Paris (french: Société des Missions Etrangères de Paris, short M.E.P.) is a Roman Catholic missionary organization. It is not a religious institute, but an organization of secular priests and lay persons ...

, soon followed by the

Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) is a missionary religious congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded on January 25, 1816, by Eugène de Mazenod, a French priest born in Aix-en-Provence in the south of France on August 1, ...

. The temple architecture belongs to the

neo-romanesque Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

style and it has images of Saint

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= �an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronati ...

and Saint

Thérèse of Lisieux Thérèse of Lisieux (french: Thérèse de Lisieux ), born Marie Françoise-Thérèse Martin (2 January 1873 – 30 September 1897), also known as Saint Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face (), was a French Catholic Discalced Carmelite ...

. The temple follows the Latin rite and serves as the mother church of the Apostolic Vicariate of Vientiane (''Vicariatus Apostolicus Vientianensis'', ອັກຄະສາວົກແທນຂອງນະຄອນຫຼວງວຽງ), which was raised to its current status by bull ''"Est in Sanctae Sedis"'' of

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his e ...

in 1952. The cathedral was renovated in 2004/2005. It is under the pastoral responsibility of the Bishop Jean Khamse Vithavong, OMI.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sacred Heart Cathedral, Church Roman Catholic cathedrals in Laos Buildings and structures in Vientiane Roman Catholic churches completed in 1928 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings

See also

References