Church of the Holy Family - Aden, Yemen
In the volcanic heart of the Crater district, the oldest of the historical demarcations of Aden, the church of the Sagrada Familia was raised, one of the three Catholic temples that shaped the small but living Christian community of the port city. Called in 1987 to the Salesians of Don Bosco, the church was the spiritual center of the Catholic clergy who remained in Yemen until, on September 15, 2015, it was looted and burned by armed men in the middle of the civil war.
🌹 Wonders and anecdotes
- Apostolic Vicariate of Aden (1888) - On October 28, 1888, the Holy See erected the Apostolic Vicariate of Aden, entrusted to the Capuchin Franciscans of Lyon; it was the beginning of the organized Catholic mission in what is today Yemen, with Aden as the centre of operations for decades.
- Three churches in Aden — La comunidad católica de la ciudad contó con tres templos: San Francisco de Asís en Tawahi (el más antiguo), la Sagrada Familia en Crater y la Inmaculada Concepción en Ma’alla; los tres estaban activos cuando llegaron los salesianos en los años ochenta del siglo XX.
- Salesians since 1987 - The Salesians of Don Bosco, who arrived from Bangalore (India), were administered in 1987 by the three churches of Aden by the Capuchin; five Salesians priests remained the only Catholic clergy in Yemen until the 2015 war escalation.
- The fire of September 15, 2015 - During the civil war, armed men raided the Sagrada Familia church in the Crater district, looted it and set it on fire; the attack was not officially claimed, although observers attributed it to jihadist groups with a presence in the city.
- Padre Tom Uzhunnalil - After the fire of the Holy Family, the Indian Salesian priest Tom Uzhunnalil moved to the home of the elders of the Missionaries of Charity in Sheikh Othman; there he was abducted on 4 March 2016 in the attack in which four religious were killed, and was released in September 2017.
Holy Family
The church of the Sagrada Familia of Aden, located in the historic Crater district, was for decades the heart of the Salesian pastoral in Yemen. Administered by the Salesians of Don Bosco since 1987, it was looted and burned on September 15, 2015 in the middle of the civil war, and since then it has remained closed. His history is testimony to the Christian presence in Arab land and to the silent martyrdom of those who served him.
The Holy Family of Nazareth protects the Christians of Yemen who, like you, have lived exile and persecution; let their faith not be extinguished even if the temples are reduced to ashes.
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