Belgian heritage abroad: Foreign honour for Sacred Heart Cathedral

Commemorative plaque unveiled at premises

LAHORE:

Belgian Ambassador Frederic Verheyden on Saturday awarded the 2015 Prize for Belgian heritage abroad to the city’s Sacred Heart cathedral.

The Belgian envoy unveiled a plaque installed at the premises to commemorate the award in the presence of Archbishop Sebastian Francis Shaw, Minorities’ Affairs Minister Khalil Tahir Sindhu, United States Consul General Zachary Harkenridder and Father Joseph Shehzad.

Speaking to newsmen following the ceremony, Verheyden said this was his second visit to the city. He said he was ecstatic to have conferred the honour on behalf of Belgium. Sindhu said Belgium had taken the initiative to establish the cathedral. He said the cathedral had been spreading the message of peace and tolerance. Shaw said the award was a manifestation of the importance Belgium attached to preserving the building. He said the cathedral’s selection as one of the three winners of the prize had made him proud as a Pakistani.

Shaw said the building could be traced back to the historic presence of Belgian chaplains in areas that today constitute Pakistan.

Jalal said the cathedral was one of the most outstanding Christian monuments in the city. He said the building had been chosen as the best edifice in the world by Capuchin Missionaries. Jalal said the missionaries were one of the first to evangelise across pre-partition Punjab. He said they were great builders, educationists and preachers. Jalal said they had set up scores of educational institutions, places of worship and dispensaries among other institutions for people’s welfare.

In the Thanksgiving Mass that followed the ceremony, homage was paid to all Capuchin Missionaries and Belgian Bishop Monseigneur Godefroid Pelkmans in particular, who had laid the buildings cornerstone in 1903 that was later consecrated by Bishop Eestermans, his successor, in 1907.

The award was announced by Belgium Foreign Affairs Minister Didier Reynders in Brussels on November 25.

The initiative aims to draw attention to often overlooked monuments. Out of all the nominations submitted by Belgian embassies the world over, a jury selected three monuments for the first edition of the prize.

The other awardees include the historical complex of Osterbybruk in Sweden and Bethlehem’s Saint Catherine of Alexandria church.  The honour comes with no monetary award. The prize’s criteria includes size and visibility of a nominated site, the historical, art-historic, economic and cultural significance of the site, its significance for bilateral relations and possibilities for the winner to promote the prize locally to stoke public interest.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 29^th, 2015.