Sacred Heart
Editorial
Guyana Chronicle
January 26, 2007
IT HAS been two long years since the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church on Main Street, Georgetown, was levelled by fire.
Since then, the parishioners of that church have been clamouring for the church to be rebuilt.
At one stage, it seemed as if a church was not going to be constructed on the site but after a great outcry and a bitter and acrimonious row, the authorities relented and a committee was entrusted to determine what should emerge at the burnt-out location. It has since been agreed that a church will be built, amongst other structures.
At first blush, this matter may seem strictly one for the Roman Catholic Church. However, as we have pointed out in a previous editorial, the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church formed part of the cultural heritage of this country and its destruction represented a tragic blow to our country’s architectural traditions, traditions that are being rapidly lost to the elements, neglect and to fires.
The Sacred Heart Church is therefore not simply a denominational matter but rather an issue that should evoke the interest of all Guyanese.
The Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church adorned Main Street. It was an imposing architectural masterpiece, an expression of the deepest and most profound aspirations of a group of early immigrants and a shrine of their devotion to their religious beliefs.
In the context of the time where a significant grouping was establishing its roots in the country, those beliefs and its expressions cannot be divorced from the cultural heritage of the country. It forms part of the country’s history and consequently its heritage.
Had it been around today, the old Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church would have surely been one of the important tourist attractions in the country, and one of the places that would have been a delight to visitors to Cricket World Cup 2007. From an architectural standpoint, it equals if not surpasses in intricacy some of the old-wooden styled buildings that have survived in our country over the centuries.
It was without doubt one of most beautiful structures built in this country, a national treasure defining the very essence of our national ethos.
It was therefore of some comfort to have learnt that the Roman Catholic Diocese had taken a decision to rebuild a church at the location. What remains ambiguous is whether the new structure or structures that will emerge at the burnt-out site would recapture in any significant way the essentials of the old architectural design and consequently be able to revive that wonderful aspect of our country’s architectural history. This question is all the more relevant considering that the site is located in a heritage zone and therefore whatever is built at that location must blend into the special characteristics of the area.
Clearly, it would be impossible if not impractical to expect that what would be constructed would be a replica of the old church. However, from a heritage perspective, and without seeking to dictate what rightly is the prerogative of the Roman Catholic Diocese, and particularly the parishioners of Sacred Heart, it would be consistent with a heritage zone if as far as possible any new structure that emerges recaptures that special part of our heritage that the former Sacred Heart Church represented.
However painful a people’s history, there will always be things that were achieved, celebrated and built that speak to that which is transcendent, glorious and eternal, that which has shaped what we are as a nation. Our heritage buildings, those gone to ruins and those remaining, remind us not just of our past but that which was special about that past.
Today, passing by the site where formerly stood in grandeur the landmark Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church is a not a very pleasing experience.
The sacred grounds are in a state of neglect and abandon. How much better it will be if it was kept in a condition deserving of the place where once stood the jewel of Main Street.
How much better, if what emerges on that location would be something that reinforces that a people’s heritage can never truly be diminished.