The Parish Church of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady () is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

Ħamrun Hamrun ( ) is a town in the Southern Region, Malta, Southern Region of Malta, with a population of 9,244 as of March 2014. The people The townspeople are traditionally known as ''Tas-Sikkina'' (literally meaning 'of the knife' or 'those who ca ...

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 ...

. It was built between 1958 and 1963 and it took over the role of an oratory dedicated to the

Immaculate Conception The Immaculate Conception is the doctrine that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Mariology, Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Debated by medieval theologians, it was not def ...

which had been established in Ħamrun in 1923. It has been a parish church since 1968.

History

An oratory dedicated to the

was established in

by Paul Burlo on 15 May 1923. Initially set up within a private dwelling, its location was moved several times over the next two decades. After Burlo died in 1950, the priest Edgar Vella took over the oratory and made plans to construct a permanent church. With assistance from Archbishop

Mikiel Gonzi Sir#British and Commonwealth honorifics, Sir Michael Papal nobility#Papal counts and countesses, Count Gonzi (born Mikiel / Michele Gonzi: 13 May 1885 – 22 January 1984), was Roman Catholic Archbishop of Malta from 1944 until 1976. He had b ...

and pastor Matthew Chircop from the St Cajetan parish, Vella acquired a plot of land which formerly contained railway tracks of the Malta Railway to build the new building. The new church was designed by the architect Ġużè Damato and it was built by the stonemason Geraldu Camilleri. The first stone was laid down by Bishop Emanuel Galea on 23 March 1958, and by the end of the year the basement was completed and it was being used to celebrate Mass. The building was almost complete by the time of Vella's death in 1962, but works halted soon afterwards due to a number of unpaid debts. The priest Joseph Mifsud Bonnici was later appointed to resume construction, and the building's finishing touches were made with the assistance of local volunteers. The church was inaugurated by Bishop Galea on 14 August 1963. The area in which the church was built had developed rapidly in the years following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The building became a vice-parish church in 1966, and later a

on 1 January 1968. A parish centre and a house for the pastor were built adjacent to the church in the 1970s, and work on the church's interior was fully completed in the 1980s. It was officially consecrated by Archbishop Joseph Mercieca on 28 May 1988.

Architecture

Externally, the church is built in a classical style and it includes a small

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

dome and a single bell tower. It is about long and wide, and it includes a single altar set in front of a sanctuary which consists of three large niches. Two sacristies are located at the rear of the building.

Artworks

The church's sanctuary contains a mosaic of the Immaculate Conception which is based on Bartolomé Esteban Murillo's 17th-century painting '' The Immaculate Conception of Los Venerables''. The mosaic was produced by T. Sarti of

Pietrasanta Pietrasanta is a town and ''comune'' on the coast of northern Tuscany in Italy, in the province of Lucca. Pietrasanta is part of Versilia, on the last foothills of the Apuan Alps, about north of Pisa. The town is located off the coast, where the ...

and it was inaugurated on 25 June 1983. The sacristy contains a copy of Murillo's painting made by the Franciscan sisters of Egypt, and this had been the church's

altarpiece An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting or sculpture, ...

before the mosaic was installed. Prior to this there had been another altarpiece which had originated from Paul Burlo's oratory. The church also contains a titular statue of the Immaculate Conception which was made by R. Zanzio & Co in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

in 1903 and which was donated to the church by the Archconfraternity of Saint Francis of

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 1985. Two other titular statues had also been located within the church prior to 1985, the first of which had been ordered by Burlo for the oratory. The church also has statues of

Saint Joseph According to the canonical Gospels, Joseph (; ) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. Joseph is venerated as Saint Joseph in the Catholic Church, Eastern O ...

and

Our Lady of Sorrows Our Lady of Sorrows (), Our Lady of Dolours, the Sorrowful Mother or Mother of Sorrows (), and Our Lady of Piety, Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows or Our Lady of the Seven Dolours are Titles of Mary, names by which Mary, mother of Jesus, is referr ...

; the latter is the work of the sculptor Wistin Camilleri.

References

External links

* {{Parish churches in Malta and Gozo 1963 establishments in Malta Church buildings with domes Ħamrun Limestone churches in Malta Roman Catholic churches completed in 1963 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Malta