St. Mary's Church 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 ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

located at 12 Ross Road,

Stanley Stanley may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Stanley'' (1972 film), an American horror film * ''Stanley'' (1984 film), an Australian comedy * ''Stanley'' (1999 film), an animated short * ''Stanley'' (1956 TV series) ...

, Falkland Islands. The church is the only

pro-cathedral A pro-cathedral or procathedral is a parish Church (building), church that temporarily serves as the cathedral or co-cathedral of a diocese, or a church that has the same function in a Catholic missionary jurisdiction (such as an apostolic prefect ...

and

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

of the Apostolic Prefecture of the Falkland Islands, an isolated territorial jurisdiction of the Catholic Church directly dependent on the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

. It is the only Catholic church in the islands. It is made of wood and was

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

in 1899. On the West wall it has oil murals, illustrated by British artist James Peck, born in the islands. In September 1966, the hijackers of

Aerolíneas Argentinas Flight 648 The hijacking of Aerolíneas Argentinas Flight 648 (also known as ''Operativo Cóndor''; Spanish language, Spanish for "Operation Condor") occurred on 28 and 29 September 1966 when a group of Argentine nationalists hijacked a civilian Aerolíne ...

were granted sanctuary in the church by Father Rodolfo Roel (of Dutch origin) whilst they awaited deportation back to

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

for trial. During the

Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...

in 1982, the parish priest Michael McPartland negotiated with the Argentine troops to continue holding

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

in English.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stanley, Saint Mary Roman Catholic churches in the Falkland Islands

Saint Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

Saint Mary's Church, Falkland Islands 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom 19th-century churches in the Falkland Islands

See also

References