St. Peter's Church (Melaka)

The St. Peter's Church (Malay: Gereja St. Peter) is a church in Melaka City, Melaka, Malaysia. It is the oldest functioning Roman Catholic Church in Malaysia.

St. Peter's Church
Gereja St. Peter  (Malay)
Main façade of St. Peter's Church in 2017
Location166 Jalan Bendahara
Melaka
CountryMalaysia
DenominationRoman Catholic
TraditionLatin Rite
History
DedicationSaint Peter
Architecture
Architectural typeChurch
StyleColonial Dutch Baroque architecture
Completed1710
Administration
ParishMalacca Vicariate Forane (under Roman Catholic Diocese of Malacca-Johor)
St. Peter's Church interior

History

The Portuguese occupation of Melaka ended when Melaka fell to the Dutch in 1641.[1] This was followed by period of persecutions of the Catholics in Melaka by the Dutch. Churches were destroyed and Catholics were not permitted to have their own cemeteries or even pray in their homes. Priests were also forbidden from administering their flocks. The war of the Spanish Succession resulted in an alliance formed between the Portuguese and the Dutch in 1703. This resulted in the Dutch adopting a softer stance towards the Portuguese Catholics. After years of persecutions, a piece of land was donated by a Dutch convert and the St. Peter's Church was built in 1710.[2]

Architecture
Main façade in 2014

The facade and decorations of the church have a combination of eastern and western architecture. One of its bells was cast in Goa in 1608 and was salvaged from an older church the Dutch had burnt down. There is also an alabaster statue of the Lord Before the Resurrection.[3]

See also

References
  1. Victor Lieberman (2003). Strange Parallels: Volume 2, Mainland Mirrors: Europe, Japan, China, South Asia, and the Islands: Southeast Asia in Global Context, C.800-1830. Cambridge University Press. pp. 844–. ISBN 978-0-521-82352-4.
  2. Administrator. "St Peter's Church Melaka Malaysia - History - About Us". stpetersmelaka.org.
  3. "St. Peter's Church". AmazingMelaka.com.

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