Sacred Heart catholic Church, Manama

The First Catholic Church in Bahrain

The bells of the Sacred Heart Church, the first Catholic Church in the Gulf first rang on 24 December 1939. 

The land to build the church was donated by the then Ruler of Bahrain, H.H. Shaikh Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa. The foundation stone was laid on 9 June 1939. The construction of the church was done with the help of Fr. Luigi, a Capuchin priest and the church was formally blessed on 8 March 1940, by Msgr. Giovanni Battista Tirinnanzi, Apostolic Vicar.  It is also called the "Mother Church"  as it was the fIrst church built in the Gulf.

                                       

An old image of Sacred Heart Church Bahrain

Since then, the church has been blessed with several dedicated shepherds. Among them was Fr. Barnabas Madii who started his service in 1943, followed by Fr Anselm (1947 to 1949), Fr Walter Connolly, and Fr Damian Ciacci (1949).

H.E. Louis Magliacani was consecrated as the church’s bishop in 1953. Fr Walter Connolly took over as the parish priest from 1950 to 1961.  Fr Eusebius Daveri became the parish priest from 1961 to 1965. From 1965 to 1979, Fr Eugene Mattioli took charge of the parish.

From 1989 to 2004, a radical change took place. Fr Eugene, the parish priest, expanded the school in Manama during this time and obtained a spacious plot in Isa Town from the Amir. Among the priests who served in Bahrain, Fr Barth Kestell, an American Capuchin worked tirelessly for almost 18 years. From 1979 to 1987, Fr Adrian Benini succeeded Fr Eugene Mattioli. From 1987 to 1988, Fr Eugene again served as the parish priest.

In 1988, Bishop Bernard Giovanni Gremoli was appointed as the Apostolic Vicar of Arabia. The foundation stone for the present "Sacred Heart Church", in the same compound was laid on 8 September 1990 and the church was blessed by Msgr. Bernardo Gremoli, Apostolic Vicar of Arabia on 8 December 1991.

For more details, visit the parish website.