According to the legend, this was the land of the royal families living and planting oranges, so it was called Phu Cam. Then, the early Christians of Thuan Hoa gathered here to live, and set up a village for the convenience of their religious activities and care of the priests. Phu Cam parish was born in this kind of situation.
Through the ups and downs of the history as well as the strict prohibition under the reigns of the Nguyen Lord and Nguyen Dynasty, churches were destroyed five times.
In 1898, the priest Eugene Allys, who became the bishop of Hue diocese after that, had rebuilt a large and spacious church according to the Gothic architecture. And he chose Phu Cam Church as his cathedral, he also looked after the Phu Cam parish as a priest.
After 61 years existing, in 1963, Bishop Pierre Martin Ngo Dinh Thuc had destroyed and rebuilt the church’s magnificently as it is today, designed by Architect Ngo Viet Thu. However, the constructing progress of the church was delayed. Until 1995, the body of the church was completed. By 1999, Archbishop Stephen Nguyen Nhu They continued to build two 43.5m high bell towers (with 12 floors each) and on June 29th, 2000, the new Phu Cam Church was inaugurated, becoming the largest church in the city of Hue.
Phu Cam cathedral is located on a high ground and ventilation, ensures the principles of the oriental feng-shui. Looking away from the cathedral, it looks like, the bishop is handing up to pray for his sheep,and also Hue’s people in peace and happiness. Standing in front of the church, the facade looks like “an opening-mouth-dragon” to welcome all people and enter closely to God. The church was designed with five entrances like Ngo Mon Gate, 3 big ones at the facade and two small arched entrances on the side. In front of the building are two statues of Saint Peter on the right and Saint Paul on the left constructed by the artist Dinh Van Luong.
The sanctuary was made in oriental culture, a square marble altar standing on the round-shaped space with three steps like symbol of Heaven, Ground and Human (according to harmony principle among plus and minus). Thanks to this style, the sanctuary and altar are rising in the middle of great church so the liturgies celebrated visibly for all attendees, in any place.
The fairly large space inside the church was created by the concrete pillars and were built close to the walls and gradually bent like hand in hand to pray. The large space of the church also looks like the Noel’s boat, to transport all Christians to overcome suffering, giving thanks to the water of baptism and the love to God.
The building in crucifixion shape with extending two wings was placed in two rows of chairs in parallel toward the sanctuary with a capacity of about 2,500 attendees. At the middle of sanctuary, is the pine wood cross in fancy looking, above is the relief of Jesus in the Last Supper, inviting all of us to come and eat, drink, and give blessing: “The Lord be with you”.
Coming to Phu Cam Cathedral you will not only enjoy the beautiful sight of Hue, but also, the pilgrims could take the opportunity to pray at the places where the blood of the martyrs had been poured out, for over 150 years. And this is also the home land of a famous cardinal Francis Nguyen Van Thuan – President Emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. Now, the Roman Catholic Church began the beatification process for him.
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