By Rabindra Rooplall
THE rebuilt Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church on Main Street hosted its first Mass yesterday. The building was filled to capacity when the service began at 8.00 am sharp.

The event was presided over by Monsignor Terrence Montrose. In an interview with this publication after the Mass, Monsignor Montrose said it was a very beautiful Mass and the turnout was beyond his expectations.
“We are hoping when the Bishop is ready he will come and bless the place and the whole community gets going again,” Mr Montrose said.
He observed that there are some finishing touches to be done while the church proceeds with its various services. Reflecting on the fire which consumed the previous building in 2004, Amanda Cummings said her mom who is an avid follower of the church worked along with the organisation when she lost tremendous documents in the fire.

“Our entire family came, we sat at Mass and it was very emotional, it was a packed house, people were standing all at the back. Every Sunday now there will be service at 8:00 am; worshippers should come out, although the church isn’t finished we intend to host tea parties and other events to complete the other works that are to be done,” she explained.
Another attendee, JB Douglas, said the occasion is a bitter- sweet event since the memories associated with the Sacred Heart Church tumbles in his mind.
“I attended the school, baptised, confirmed and when the school burnt it was a shake-up for most of us. Some close friends and classmates, Bobby and Billy Fernandez we had some plans of when it was opening what we would have contributed. But Bobby and Billy are both ill and are unable to attend that’s where the bitter comes in,” he noted.
“But the joy is to be a part of the service, this is not the official service, that is yet to come. It was a group of 12 of us who attended the school and everything went haywire since we’re all not here today.”
The old church, one of Guyana’s most beautiful wooden heritage buildings, was completely destroyed by fire on Christmas morning in 2004. The inferno also consumed the Sacred Heart School, then one of Guyana’s leading primary schools, which was located within the compound of the Church. The old Sacred Heart Church was declared open in 1861. It stood for 143 years before its untimely destruction by fire.
The destruction of the magnificent edifice forced the parishioners of Sacred Heart to celebrate mass and services at the Ursuline Convent on Camp Street. The small chapel has for the past 12 years been the new home of the parishioners, whose leaders were determined that the Sacred Heart Church was of such historical, religious and social significance that it had to be rebuilt.
The parishioners faced stern challenges in their quest to have the Church rebuilt. A committee which was led by Mr Manfred De Santos and including Mrs. Debbie De Santos, Mr. Ramsey Ally; Mrs Dawn Lopes and Mr. Martin Bollers among others, was established and spearheaded an unremitting campaign to rebuild the church. Their efforts have now borne fruit with the first mass to be celebrated in Main Street after a 12-year interregnum.