St. Mary Catholic Parish (, ) 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 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 ...

based in the

Meilahti Meilahti (in Swedish Mejlans) is a neighbourhood of Helsinki between Mannerheimintie (the main entrance road to Helsinki) and a bay named Seurasaarenselkä. Most of the houses in Meilahti were built in the 1930s and 1940s. Meilahti is home to o ...

neighborhood of Helsinki, Finland. It is run by the

Priests of the Sacred Heart The Congregation of the Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (), also called the Dehonians, is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men in the Catholic Church founded in northern France in Saint-Quentin, Aisne, Pi ...

. The parish stretches from the western extent of

Uusimaa Uusimaa (; , ; both lit. 'new land') is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Southwest Finland, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme), and Kymenlaakso. Finland's capital and largest city, Helsinki, alo ...

Riihimäki Riihimäki (; ) is a town and municipality in the south of Finland, about north of Helsinki and southeast of Tampere. An important railway junction is located in Riihimäki, since railway tracks from Riihimäki lead to Helsinki, Tampere and La ...

Hanko Hanko may refer to Places *Hanko, Finland, town and municipality *Hanko Peninsula, Finland * Hankø, an island in the Oslo Fjord in Norway *The asteroid 2299 Hanko Other uses * August Hanko (military personnel), German First World War flying a ...

. The parish area includes the diocesan retreat center, Stella Maris; the diocesan broadcaster, Redemptoris Mater; and the

Carmelite The Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel (; abbreviated OCarm), known as the Carmelites or sometimes by synecdoche known simply as Carmel, is a mendicant order in the Catholic Church for both men and women. Histo ...

convent in

Espoo Espoo (, ; ) is a city in Finland. It is located to the west of the capital, Helsinki, in southern Uusimaa. The population is approximately . It is the most populous Municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. Espoo is part of the Helsi ...

. Many parishioners are foreigners; regular services are held in Swedish, English, Vietnamese, Polish, Spanish, and German as well as Finnish. St. Mary's was established in 1954, the second Catholic congregation in the western Helsinki area to be established since the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

. Bishop Willem Cobben consecrated the parish church on 6 December 1954, whose facilities include a church hall and rectory. A parochial school was opened the same year.

Parish church

The church was designed by architect Kaj Salenius in the Modern style. The sanctuary is flanked by paintings of the patroness, the

Virgin 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 ...

, in depictions of the

Woman of the Apocalypse A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional uteru ...

and of the

Assumption of Mary The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Catholic Mariology#Dogmatic teachings, Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it on 1 November 1950 in his apostolic constitution as follows: It leaves open the question of w ...

. These, along with the baptismal font, window paintings, and statue of Mary were created by the Dutch artist Lou Manche. The statue is a

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

in the form of a

Seat of Wisdom Seat of Wisdom or Throne of Wisdom (Latin: ''sedes sapientiae'') is one of many titles of Mary, devotional titles for Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary in Roman Catholic tradition. In Seat of Wisdom icons and sculptures, Mary is seated on a throne wit ...

and carved from stone. The current altar, set in the middle of the chancel, contains relics of Saint

Bridget of Sweden Bridget of Sweden, Bridgettines, OSsS ( – 23 July 1374), also known as Birgitta Birgersdotter and Birgitta of Vadstena (), was a Swedish Catholic Mysticism, mystic and the founder of the Bridgettines. Outside Sweden, she was also known as the ...

and of her daughter Saint Catherine of Sweden. The old altar, set against the wall, contains relics of

Saint Pius X Pope Pius X (; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing modernist interpretations of Catholic d ...

Saint Christopher Saint Christopher (, , ; ) is venerated by several Christian denominations. According to these traditions, he was a martyr killed in the reign of the 3rd-century Roman Empire, Roman emperor Decius (), or alternatively under the emperor Maximin ...

, and Saint

Maria Goretti Maria Teresa Goretti (; 16 October 1890 – 6 July 1902) was an Italian virgin martyr of the Catholic Church, and one of the youngest saints to be canonized. She was born to a farming family. Her father died when she was nine, and the family ...

. The altar wall, contributed in 1985, is a natural stone mosaic by German artist Claus Kilian of the

Crucifixion of Jesus The crucifixion of Jesus was the death of Jesus by being crucifixion, nailed to a cross.The instrument of Jesus' crucifixion, instrument of crucifixion is taken to be an upright wooden beam to which was added a transverse wooden beam, thus f ...

, surrounded by the

Four Evangelists In Christian tradition, the Four Evangelists are Matthew the Apostle, Matthew, Mark the Evangelist, Mark, Luke the Evangelist, Luke, and John the Evangelist, John, the authors attributed with the creation of the four canonical Gospel accounts ...

. In the rear of the church is a mechanical two- manual organ with seventeen registers by Swedish artist Richard Jacoby in 1965. The

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

has three bells which are rung on Sundays before Mass and on special occasions.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mary's Church, Helsinki Churches in Helsinki Roman Catholic churches completed in 1954 Christian organizations established in 1955 1955 establishments in Finland 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Finland

Parish church

See also

References

External links