DID you know that St Francis Xavier Church in George Town is a Category One heritage building?
While authorities might have been aware, many common parishioners likely did not know about this prestigious designation.
According to Fr Desmond Jansen, the last major maintenance work on the church was in 1993.
Now, after over two decades, the church can begin necessary repairs thanks to a RM100,000 repair incentive from the George Town World Heritage Incorporated (GTWHI) received in April this year.
The church qualified for this incentive after its Category One heritage status was confirmed by the state government.
In an exclusive interview with Buletin Mutiara in May, Fr Desmond expressed gratitude for the timely incentive, which aligns with the church’s goals of creating a better environment for prayer and worship.
“Although the church was established in 1857, it has operated from three different buildings over the years.
“It is currently in a rundown state, and we aim to expedite critical repairs to ensure a comfortable and conducive environment for parishioners and visitors,” Fr Desmond said.
“We estimate the repair costs to be around RM200,000, and we plan to raise the remaining funds through parishioner-led fundraising activities.”
Fr Desmond also shared some historical context, noting that St Francis Xavier Church was originally established for Indian Catholics in Penang.
Later, another church, St John Britto, was founded in Sungai Pinang to serve the Indian community with Tamil masses.
Over time, St Francis Xavier became more of a sub-parish or mass centre due to a decline in the number of parishioners.
It is now part of the City Parish, which includes the Church of Our Lady of Sorrows (the mother church) and two other sub-parishes, the Church of the Assumption and St John Britto.
St Francis Xavier Church holds weekday noon masses from Monday to Wednesday and a Sunday evening mass at 6pm, typically drawing 500 to 600 parishioners out of its 1,000-person capacity.
In addition to St Francis Xavier Church, the Church of Assumption received an incentive of RM124,146.60 from the Federal Government’s incentive programme.
This programme, announced in April in Komtar, supports numerous Category One heritage buildings as part of the RM25 million grant allocated to Penang under Budget 2023 for preserving and managing the George Town UNESCO World Heritage Site status.
Melaka also received RM25 million and an additional RM5 million to promote its Visit Melaka 2024 campaign.
Story by Kevin Vimal
Pix by Adleena Rahayu Ahmad Radzi