About Sacred Heart Church in Bucharest:
Known as the French Church of the Sacred Heart, it began with the arrival of three sisters from the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul. They founded a small dispensary and during the second Balkan War in 1913, they participated with Prince Ghika in an ambulance service, treating the victims of cholera. After the war came Communism, and for more than 30 years the church remained closed, suffering serious damage during the earthquake of 1977. The French State provided essential repairs to the structure.
In January 1990, with the support of a group of French-speaking Africans, steps were taken by Archbishop Mgr Ioan Robu to obtain the reopening of the Catholic Church of Sacre-Coeur, which was accomplished the following year.
The Society of Jesus, seeking to redeploy its presence in the country, proposed one of its members for the position. Father Luc Duquenne arrived in Bucharest on November 17, 1991. On Monday the 18th, the church was restored to daily worship. The parish was canonically erected on December 1, 1991 .
An abundance of Romanian vocations allowed for the addition of a vicar to serve their community. In 1999-2000, the tiny rectory was expanded with a new wing, an additional floor, and several rooms, as well as a perimeter wall with a gallery, as we know it today.
Starting in Advent 1992, at the urging of families of Nigerian diplomats, Father Georg Sporschill, an Austrian Jesuit and founder of the Concordia network for street children, inaugurated Saturday evening Mass in English. At Christmas 1995, a member of this community, an Iraqi international civil servant, requested a celebration for his compatriots of the Chaldean rite: they numbered over a hundred, including merchants and refugees. Their community organized itself, and the priests took turns celebrating a modified Latin liturgy for them.
Starting in 2008, the Lebanese Maronites obtained a resident priest and established a new parish. Father Zakhia Zgheib, their parish priest, also took charge of the Arabic-speaking Chaldean community, which continued to meet at the Sacred Heart Church on Saturday evenings or Sunday afternoons, depending on the season. For several years now, the Lebanese community has also been building its parish in Dimieni, near Bucharest, where it meets weekly.
The French-speaking community is a multinational one (representing 13 nationalities in the parish), with many young families and children. Every Sunday, 150 people gather for Mass at the Church of the Sacred Heart. Catechism classes are offered weekly to approximately 100 French-speaking children and young people. Numerous pastoral activities are offered throughout the year for adults and families.
Mass is celebrated in English every Saturday at 6:00 pm at Sacred Heart Church. Masses are held at other dates and times in Romanian, French, Latin and Arabic. Be sure to check their website for the latest information.
Traveling to Sacred Heart Church in Bucharest, Romania:
Address: Street Cpt Gheorghe Demetriade n ° #3, sector 1, RO-011848 Bucarest
Tel: +40 021 319 70 70
Click here for the official website of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Bucharest, Romania