St. Antonius (Mersin)
The Latin Catholic Saint Anthony Church ( Turkish Aziz Antuan Latin Katolik Kilisesi ) is a Roman Catholic church built in the 1850s in Uray Caddesi in the Camişerif Mahallesi district in the southern Turkish port city of Mersin ; it is one of the last churches that still exist in the city.
The church has been the co- cathedral of the Vicariate Apostolic Anatolia since November 1st, 1999 and is under the patronage of Saint Anthony of Padua . It is open for church services.
history
Due to the existence of small Roman Catholic (Latin) communities in Mersin and Tarsus and the increasing economic rise of the former fishing village of Mersin, the building of a church was necessary as early as 1840. The impetus for building the church came from Maronites who were expelled from Lebanon and who fled to Mersin after clashes with Muslims and Druze . On January 13, 1853, it was decided that a Catholic church should be built under the supervision of France . After May 1854 the church and the St. Anthony of Padua College (Padova'lı Saint Antuan Koleji) were opened by Capuchins .
It was not until September 15, 1855 that Sultan Abdülmecit I gave permission to build a church with a Ferman , but the Ferman was not handed over to the church until 1891 due to bureaucratic difficulties. In 1867 the church was given a harmonium and in 1874 a cemetery.
During the First World War , Father Edmond was recalled to France and the Church's school had to be closed. It was reopened after the war. In May 1924 all religious schools in the country were closed, including those of the church. In 1928 part of the church garden and the boys' school were expropriated by the state because of the construction of a road, and the church's cemetery was also expropriated and nationalized. Since the Catholic Church of Tarsus was closed in 1942, its church property was transferred to the Catholic Church of Mersin.
In 1945 the Turkish state expropriated the girls' school of the Church of Mersin and converted it into an orphanage. In 1947 property was also confiscated for the construction of a railway. In 1951 the Capuchin monastery was attached to the orphanage. Since the death of the clergyman of the Maronite Church , the Maronites of Mersin held their services in the Latin Catholic Church. In 1953 the sister monastery of the church was converted into the Turkish “Elementary School of January 5th” (5 Ocak İlkokulu) , in 1956 a further 1350 m² of land was expropriated for the construction of a Turkish school. Another part of the church garden was confiscated in 1967 in order to enlarge the school.
In 1958 the church got a new altar and in 1975 the bell tower got a new clock. In 1990 the church was renovated. At the request of Pope John Paul II , the church was turned into a cathedral in 1991 , and Ruggero Franceschini was the first bishop to reside there. In 1999 the bishopric was moved from Mersin to İskenderun .
Individual evidence
- Tarihce. Mersin Latin Katolik Kilisesi, accessed May 3, 2015 .
Coordinates: 36 ° 48 ′ 4 " N , 34 ° 38 ′ 2" E