The Sacred Heart Church is the name of a religious building affiliated to the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

that is located in the main street of the city of

Koror Koror is the state comprising the main commercial centre of the Republic of Palau. It consists of several islands, the most prominent being Koror Island (also ''Oreor Island''). It is Palau’s most populous state. History In the oral tradition ...

in the island and state of the same name in

Palau Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the Caro ...

a country of

Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a region, geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of ...

to the west of the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

. Nearby is the Maris Stella School and the

Etpison Museum The Etpison Museum is a museum in Koror City, in Koror, Palau. It documents history of the country and some of the artifacts. History The land for the construction of the museum was donated by former President Ngiratkel Etpison Ngiratkel Et ...

. The temple follows the Roman or Latin rite and depends on the Diocese of the Caroline Islands (''Dioecesis Carolinensium'') based in Weno in the

Federated States of Micronesia The Federated States of Micronesia (; abbreviated FSM) is an island country in Oceania. It consists of four states from west to east, Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosraethat are spread across the western Pacific. Together, the states comprise a ...

and which was created as a sui juris mission in 1886 and was elevated to its current status in 1979 through the bull "Tametsi Ecclesiae" of the then

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

. The present structure has its antecedents in the old church of the Sacred Heart (''Sagrado Corazón'') founded in the time of the

Spanish colonization The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...

in 1892. A new structure was constructed in 1935 and it took 8 years to finish, to the inauguration attended by local parishioners and Japanese authorities.

References

Roman Catholic churches in Palau Buildings and structures in Koror Roman Catholic churches completed in 1935 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings {{Oceania-church-stub

See also

References