Immaculate Conception Church
History
The Immaculate Conception church was built in 1942, when Heliopolis counted very few houses and buildings. In fact, at one of the lateral altars, the “prothesis”, the picture of the birth of Christ has the date of September 1942 as well as the icon of the Virgin Mary with the Child behind the main altar.
This church is called in Arabic language “Al Azrah al Tahira” (the Virgin the All-Pure) but from the foundation it is known also by the French name of “IMMACULEE CONCEPTION” to honor the dogma of the Immaculate Conception proclaimed by the Pope Pius IX on 8 December 1854.
The engineer-architect was greek-catholic of the parish of “St Mary of Peace”, in Garden City. His name was Naoum Shebib. He became famous when he built the Cairo Tower (187 high) on Gezira Island, which was inaugurated on April 11th, 1961, during the government of President Gamal Abd El Nasser. Our church was one of his first works. He built also Saint Catherine’s church of the Syrian Catholics near Triomphe Square as well as Sainte Thérèse’s church of the Maronite community of Port Said.. Among his main civil works are worthy to be mentioned: the new building of the Arabic newspaper AL AHRAM (founded in 1875 by the Greek Catholic family Takla) and the two first skyscraper apartments of Cairo. (For more information visit the site of Mr. Samir Raafat: http: WWW. EGY. COM / ).
Unfortunately he did not see his name on a commemorative marble plaque, as he could expect. He emigrated to Canada in 1971 and died there in 1985, at the age of 69 years old. However, the church of the Immaculate Conception has at its entry his name carved on marble to perpetuate his memory.
The Greek Catholic commander Thabet Thabet has been the main benefactor, offering in 1940 the sum of 3000 Egyptian Pounds (according to oral information) for the construction of the church, the Parish priest’s house and the Mixed Patriarchal School which is behind the church..Thabet Thabet died in Italy and his body was transported to Cairo to be buried under the Immaculate Conception’s church in acknowledgement of his generosity and religious attitude towards his Melkite Catholic Community. We recall on the way that Thabet Thabet had commissioned Naoum Shebib in 1958 to build the highest first skyscraper of apartments in Egypt, a building of 30 storeys, the “Belmont Building”.
Another Greek Catholic commander, Elias Habib Toutounji, executed the testament of Thabet Thabet and contributed with his own money to complete the works. In a prophetical vision, the Patriarch Cyril IX Al Moghabghab – had bought in the thirties all the land around the church, when Heliopolis was almost a wide desert. Ten years later, Naoum Shebib began the construction of the church, which he concluded in 1942.
After about 50 years from the foundation, the parishioners decided to restore the church. The restoratoin was executed during the period 1992-1995 under the supervision of the engineer Edward Youssef Kadi while the repairing works of the arcades cracked by a recent earthquake (1992) were under the responsibility of our parishioner the Engineer Georges Habib El-Hag, deceased in Cairo in 2000.
Some of the byzantine icons have been painted by the Greek artist Wassiliou, who has many works in several churches and chapels of Cairo while the big painting representing the Holy Trinity in the sanctuary was made by the artist Lambert. Among the angels we see a girl dressed in blue color, Doris, Youssef Toutoungi’ daughter, deceased when she was 15 years old. Her parents Youssef and Alia offered this painting to the church in memory of Doris. On both sides of the painting we read in Arabic and French the prayer “Hail Mary” in a developed commentary.
Immaculate Conception Church
Address : 42 Omar Ebn El-Khattab, Heliopolis, Cairo – Egypt
Site: www.egliseimmaculee.net
Facebook page : https://www.facebook.com/p/Eglise-de-limmaculee-conception-%D9%83%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%B3%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B0%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B7%D8%A7%D9%87%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D9%84%D9%84%D8%B1%D9%88%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%83%D8%A7%D8%AB%D9%88%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%83-100067345381517/?paipv=0&eav=Afa8_BPIWMYJ3P7HThkfEh9GtJVeKQ5TESbVNPESIvsv1sF9jHMZsHzBXB8NbRYD_Cc&_rdr
E-mail: egliseimmaculee@yahoo.com
Phone: 0020 2 4152245
Rt. Rev. Maurice Khoury