Ss Peter And Paul Cathedral, Dogura
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Ss Peter and Paul Cathedral is an
Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
cathedral in Dogura,
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...
. It was consecrated in 1939, just after the outbreak of
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 ...
. It is the seat of the Bishop of Dogura in the Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea. The Dogura diocese consists of
Milne Bay Province Milne Bay is a province of Papua New Guinea. Its capital is Alotau. The province covers 14,345 km2 of land and 252,990 km2 of sea, within the province there are more than 600 islands, about 160 of which are inhabited. The province has ...
. The cathedral is the Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea's only traditional European-style cathedral of substantial size and built of masonry.


History


History of the Dogura mission

In 1883 the Government of the
Colony of Queensland The Colony of Queensland was a colony of the British Empire from 1859 to 1901, when it became a State in the federal Australia, Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January 1901. At its greatest extent, the colony included the present-day Queensland, ...
annexed the south-eastern quarter of the island of
New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...
, which became the
Territory of Papua The Territory of Papua comprised the southeastern quarter of the island of New Guinea from 1883 to 1975. In 1883, the Government of Queensland annexed this territory for the British Empire. The United Kingdom Government refused to ratify the ...
. In 1890 the
Administrator Administrator or admin may refer to: Job roles Computing and internet * Database administrator, a person who is responsible for the environmental aspects of a database * Forum administrator, one who oversees discussions on an Internet forum * N ...
of the Territory of Papua,
William MacGregor Sir William MacGregor, (20 October 1846 – 3 July 1919)R. B. Joyce,', ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Volume 5, Melbourne University Press, 1974, pp 158–160. Retrieved 29 September 2009 was a Scottish colonial administrator who was ...
, brokered a 'comity of missions' agreement between the different Christian denominations, whereby each denomination would restrict its missionary activity to a particular area. The Church of England was given responsibility for the north-east coast of Papua from Cape Ducie to Mitre Rock, near the border with
German New Guinea German New Guinea () consisted of the northeastern part of the island of New Guinea and several nearby island groups, and was part of the German colonial empire. The mainland part of the territory, called , became a German protectorate in 188 ...
. The comity of missions was still in place at the time that
Philip Strong :''Both the subject and his father sometimes used ''Warrington Strong'' as a surname.'' Sir Philip Nigel Warrington Strong (11 July 18996 July 1983) served as the fourth Bishop of New Guinea from 1936 to 1962 and the fifth Anglican Anglican Ar ...
was appointed bishop in 1936, although by then it was showing signs of fracture. In 1891 two Anglican priests, the Rev Albert Maclaren and the Rev Copland King, founded the New Guinea Mission. On 10 August 1891 Maclaren and King walked ashore at the beach at Kaieta, near the village of Wedau. 60 metres above Wedau rose the Dogura plateau, a former tribal battleground, and it was here that the two priests established the Dogura mission. A small bush chapel was built. Maclaren fell ill and died in December, but King persevered. On Easter Day 1896 the first converts were baptised. This was the prompt for the creation of the Diocese of British New Guinea, and in 1898 Montagu Stone-Wigg was enthroned in Dogura as the first bishop. When the bush chapel was replaced by a more permanent structure, it was discovered that one of the corner posts had taken root. That corner post is now a giant Modawa tree, and still stands in the cathedral complex. When the then
Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...
,
George Carey George Leonard Carey, Baron Carey of Clifton (born 13 November 1935) is a retired Anglican bishop who was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1991 to 2002, having previously been the Bishop of Bath and Wells. During his time as archbishop the C ...
, visited in 1991 for the Mission's centenary, he planted a sapling from the tree in
Popondetta Popondetta (sometimes spelled Popondota) is the capital of Oro (Northern) Province in Papua New Guinea. In 1951 the city became the focus of relief efforts after nearby Mount Lamington erupted and killed 4,000 people. Popondetta is near to ...
, the location of the Anglican
Newton Theological College Newton Theological College is a Papua New Guinean educational institution in Popondetta, Papua New Guinea. It trains candidates for ordination in the Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea. History Anglican mission activity commenced in the Terri ...
. The pro-cathedral, as it became after the creation of the diocese in 1898, was built of 'native materials' in ten days. The mission station also included a college for mixed-race children (St Agnes', in nearby Doubina), a school (St Paul's), and a hospital (St Barnabas's); there is a nearby teachers' training college (St Aidan's).


Design and construction

A permanent cathedral was first proposed in 1932 by the then Bishop of New Guinea, Henry Newton, as an expression of emergent unity. The original design was by Leslie Wilkinson, Professor of Architecture at the
University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...
, but was found to be too ambitious, and had to be considerably modified. The modified plan was prepared and executed by Robert Jones, a lay worker at the mission who was subsequently ordained in 1940. The foundation stone was laid in 1934. The cathedral contains 20,000 tons of material, all of which was carried up the 220ft plateau by Papuan volunteer workers. No workers lost their lives in the construction of the cathedral. At the time of its construction, the cathedral was the largest building in the territories of Papua &
New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...
. It is 170ft long and 50 ft wide, and longer than the Anglican cathedrals in Sydney or Melbourne. At the transepts, the width is 70 ft. The cathedral is designed in a 'Norman-Romanesque' style, with round windows and Norman arches. It has two transeptal towers, named for the double dedication of Peter and Paul, as well as to each of the two founders of the mission, Maclaren and King. The height of the cathedral is 40ft; the towers reach 64 ft.


Consecration and the cathedral in the life of its congregation

The cathedral was consecrated on 29 October 1939 by
William Wand John William Charles Wand, (25 January 1885 – 16 August 1977) was an English Anglican bishop. He was the Archbishop of Brisbane in Australia before returning to England to become the Bishop of Bath and Wells and, later, Bishop of London. ...
, the Archbishop of Brisbane, the Diocese of New Guinea then forming part of the
Province of Queensland The Province of Queensland is an ecclesiastical province of the Anglican Church of Australia; its territorial remit includes the Northern Territory and the state of Queensland. The province consists of four dioceses: Brisbane, North Queensland, ...
. Wand had taught himself a little Wedauan in advance of the visit. As the diocesan boat, the ''Maclaren King'', arrived at Wedau, the assembly of Papuans on the beach sang the hymn '' Now Thank We All Our God''. Wand pronounced a blessing as he stepped ashore, in Wedauan, prompting three cheers from the assembled crowd. The
jubilee A jubilee is often used to refer to the celebration of a particular anniversary of an event, usually denoting the 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th, and the 70th anniversary. The term comes from the Hebrew Bible (see, "Old Testament"), initially concerning ...
took place in 1941, and was celebrated on the feast of St Laurence, 10 August, with
Holy Communion The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an ordinance in others. Christians believe that the rite was instituted by J ...
at 6 and 7 am, followed by Mattins at 10 am, and then the ordination of two Papuan priests. David Hand, aged just 31, was consecrated bishop in the cathedral in 1950, to become coadjutor bishop of the then Diocese of New Guinea: this was the first episcopal consecration held at Dogura. The noted Papuan linguist, the Rev Dr
Arthur Capell Arthur Capell (28 March 1902 – 10 August 1986) was an Australian linguist, who made major contributions to the study of Australian languages, Austronesian languages and Papuan languages. Early life Capell was born in Newtown, New South W ...
, was made an Honorary Canon of the cathedral in 1956.


Disrepair

The cathedral was restored in the early 1970s. Since at least 2017, the Cathedral has been suffering from white ant and termite infestation.


Architecture


Features

There are no pews: the congregation sits and kneels on the floor. There are other local features. In 1939 the
incense Incense is an aromatic biotic material that releases fragrant smoke when burnt. The term is used for either the material or the aroma. Incense is used for aesthetic reasons, religious worship, aromatherapy, meditation, and ceremonial reasons. It ...
was from gum from trees, the oil in the sanctuary lamps was from coconuts, and the charcoal from mangrove wood. At the time of the consecration there were four windows:
St George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the R ...
in the
Baptistry In Christian architecture the baptistery or baptistry (Old French ''baptisterie''; -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... ''baptisterie''; Latin ''baptist ...
;
St Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...
in the Chapel of the Resurrection; the
Resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions involving the same person or deity returning to another body. The disappearance of a body is anothe ...
in the same chapel; and a circular window of the Nativity in the
Lady Chapel A Lady chapel or lady chapel is a traditional British English, British term for a chapel dedicated to Mary, mother of Jesus, particularly those inside a cathedral or other large church (building), church. The chapels are also known as a Mary chape ...
. The installation of the other windows was delayed by the European war, but were subsequently installed: a window of St Laurence (being the feast day on which Maclaren and King landed at Wedau) and a window of
St Peter Saint Peter (born Shimon Bar Yonah; 1 BC – AD 64/68), also known as Peter the Apostle, Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, or Cephas, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the first leaders of the early Christian Church. He appears repe ...
. Other features installed by 1940 included a bronze sanctuary lamp, standard candlesticks made of Australian blackwood given by St Peter's, Eastern Hill, and a
tabernacle According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle (), also known as the Tent of the Congregation (, also Tent of Meeting), was the portable earthly dwelling of God used by the Israelites from the Exodus until the conquest of Canaan. Moses was instru ...
for reservation of the
Blessed Sacrament The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an ordinance in others. Christians believe that the rite was instituted by J ...
. A number of Anglican clergy and lay workers were murdered by the invading Japanese in WWII, north of Dogura in 1942. Two of those were in Gona; a third, Fr James Benson, narrowly escaped death, but was presumed killed, until he stumbled out of the jungle in 1945. As a memorial to all of those who died at the hands of the Japanese, known as the Martyrs of New Guinea, Benson painted a mural on the east end of the Sanctuary of the cathedral. Benson's mural collapsed in 2017, and is stored on the floor, awaiting funding for restoration.


Depictions

*In 1946 the Australian stained glass artist
Napier Waller Mervyn Napier Waller Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, CMG Officer of the Order of the British Empire, OBE (19 June 189330 March 1972) was an Australian muralist, mosaicist and painter in stained glass and other media. He is ...
created a New Guinea Martyrs Memorial Window for St Peter's, Eastern Hill in Melbourne. The uppermost panel depicts Dogura cathedral on the day of its consecration. *To commemorate the centenary of the Anglican Church in Papua New Guinea in 1991, the PNG post office issued three stamps. The 21 toea stamp depicts Dogura cathedral.


Sub-Deans and Deans

Initially the incumbent was the Sub-Dean (the Bishop being the Dean); since 1968 the incumbent has been the Dean. *John Dewhurst Bodger, 1940-50 Bodger was a member of the Legislative Council for the Territory of Papua (the predecessor of the Legislative Council of Papua and New Guinea) from 1940. *Harold Ernest Palmer, 1950-54 * John Wallace Chisholm, 1954-64. Subsequently Bishop of Melanesia, 1967-75 and briefly Archbishop of Melanesia, 1975. *Ian Robert Lovell, 1965-69. *Wallace Kibikibi, 1969- *Rhynold Ewaruba Sanana, 1974-77. Sanana was concurrently an Assistant Bishop of New Guinea 1976-77 and subsequently Bishop of Dogura, 1977-90. *? *Faithful Arewa, c 2020


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sts Peter and Paul Cathedral, Church Buildings and structures in Papua New Guinea Religion in Papua New Guinea