Church of the Sacred Heart - Baby
It is impossible to talk about the Church of the Sacred Heart in Bebek without mentioning the Sisters of the Filles de la Charité and Vincentian Fathers, known as "Lazarists", once the largest congregation in Istanbul. Continuing in the tradition of their founders, St. Vincent de Paul and St. Louise de Marillac, they established orphanages, schools, clinics, nursing homes, agricultural colonies, nurseries and hospitals, many of which are still in operation in Istanbul, Bursa and Izmir. The Sultans also thanked the nuns for their devotion and service to the wounded in the Crimean War and for their hard work during the cholera epidemic that claimed many lives.
| Opening time: | Closing time |
Saturday | 17.30pm | 19.45pm |
Market | 10.30am | 13pm |
Mass Times
-
Saturday:
Turkish 18:00 -
Sunday:
Multilingual 11:00
The first abbess was Sister Therese (real name Alexandrine de Merlis). A precocious worker, she established a clinic, taught the first classes and worked during the cholera epidemic of 1848. When she left home in 1851 to run the French hospital in Taksim, Bebek had 17 orphans as well as boarding and day students. She was replaced by Sister Cécilia Rigaud, who later contracted cholera. Then came Sister Stéphanie MAHEO, a Breton woman of great energy and perseverance, who organized the house and the work from 1857 to 1897. Before her death in 1907 at the age of 83, she bequeathed 25,000 French francs for the construction of the present church.
The church is dedicated to the Sacred Heart and has four side altars. Two in the choir, dedicated to St. Louis and St. Vincent de Paul, and two on either side of the nave, one dedicated to the Virgin and the other to St. Joseph.
It was designed by the Italian architect Ercole Michelini, under the direction of François-Xavier Lobry, Visitor of the Lazarist Fathers and Daughters of Charity. The church was consecrated on March 16, 1910.
After the devastation of the 1914-18 war, the church was restored and the Superior General of the Daughters of Charity of Paris donated a beautiful statue of the Sacred Heart, inaugurated on October 30, 1932. The statue dominates the wooden altar, which is still in excellent condition.
In 2002, the last French Vincentian in Istanbul, finding it impossible to continue taking care of his property in Bebek, proposed to his superiors in Paris to entrust it to the "Identes" congregation, on condition that the ministry of the Church of the Sacred Heart would be guaranteed.