Our Lady of the Melekeok Dolores
In Melekeok, the state of the island of Babeldaob where Ngerulmud, the capital of Palau, is located, the Catholic community meets in the church of Our Lady of the Dolores. It is the only temple in the entire archipelago dedicated expressly to the Virgin Mary, and belongs to the diocese of the Carolines Islands, suffranea of the Archdiocese of Agaña (Guam).
🌹 Wonders and anecdotes
- The permanent Catholic presence in Palau began on April 28, 1891, with the arrival of Spanish Capuchin missionaries; from that sowing comes the faith that is lived today in Melekeok.
- Among the Catholic temples of Palau - dedicated to the Sacred Heart, to St. Peter Chanel, to St. Joseph or to St. Patrick - the one of Melekeok is the only one with the name of the Virgin: Our Lady of the Dolores, the Mother who accompanies at the foot of the cross.
- The church serves the political heart of the country: in the state of Melekeok itself is Ngerulmud, the headquarters of the Government of Palau since 2006, so that the Dolorosa sees very close to those who govern the nation.
- Palau has never had his own diocese: his faithful walk together with those of Micronesia within the diocese of the Carolines Islands, erected as an apostolic prefecture in 1905 and raised to the diocese in 1979.
Virgin of the Dolores
On the large island of Babeldaob, next to the capital of Palau, the small church of Our Lady of the Dolores is the only Marian temple in the archipelago. There Mother Dolorosa accompanies a Catholic community born of the Spanish Capuchin mission of 1891.
"Virgin of the Dolores, Mother faithful to the foot of the cross, accompany your children of Palau.
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