Chrismate: Santa Cruz Church, Thonburi / Bangkok

Monday, August 10, 2015

Santa Cruz Church, Thonburi / Bangkok

It is always a bit surprising to learn that Bangkok has had an important Catholic community since its foundation.

Santa Cruz Church

After settling in Malacca, the Portuguese arrived on the Chao Phraya River in the 16^th century. They managed to get in touch with the king and even be allowed to host a small Portuguese village in the former capital of
Ayutthaya. But when the royal capital fell under the attack of the Burmese, a former general, who became King Thaksin moved down the Chao Phraya and made Thonburi the new capital.

Consequently, the Portuguese community moved to Thonburi and started to build a church there. It became Santa Cruz Church, the oldest church in Bangkok. The present building is the 3^rd version of the original church.

Church nave

Strangely, most of its priests were French as the French community grew more important after the Portuguese.

Here is the story of the church copied from a brochure provided by the community :

« Santa Cruz Church is a Catholic church of the Archidiocese of Bangkok, which dates back to 1769 A.D. When King Thaksin established the new capital in Thonburi. Fr. Jacques Corre, a French Catholic priest, then brought back from Cambodia's border all the Catholics of thw former Ayutthaya Era, and settled them in a Catholic village at the present site. During that time King Thaksin visited and finally gave the Catholics the right of accession to the land of their village on September 14^th, the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Fr. Corre, therefore, named the village 'Santa Cruz', which means 'the Holy Cross', and on May 25, 1770, the following year, built a humble wooden church in the village. In 1794, Bishop Antoine Garnault built a seminary and began the first printing press of Thailand in Santa Cruz. (The printing press moved to Assumption Cathedral later in 1801.) The first church lasted for 65 years.

Church village

In 1835, the style of this church was rather Chinese, and so was Pallegoix, who became a close friend of King Phrajomklao (King Rama IV), and he became a Bishop too.

In 1906, Bishop Jean-Louis Vey invited the Saint-Paul-de-Chartres Sisters to establish the Santa Cruz Convent School in the village. The second church served for another 81 years until Father Guillaume Kin Da Cruz ('Guillialmo') built the present third church to open on September 17, 1916, followed by the Presbyterium six years later. Fr. Anselm Sagiem Ruamsamu opened the Santa Cruz Suksa School.

In 1954, Santa Cruz has been a sign of unity and fraternity between the Thai and Portuguese people since the Ayutthaya Era, and lives happily and peacefully with Buddhists and Muslims nearby also. Contributing to the education and moral formation of young Thais for so long, it is our hope that Santa Cruz will continue to be, even more so in the future, a sign of unity and fraternity. There are some delicious Portuguese cakes, still baked with old Portuguese flavor, waiting for you in the village. »

Inside the coffeeshop

Portuguese bakery shop nearby.

In the maze of the narrow alleys near the church, there is a gorgeous old, little bakery and coffeeshop that continues baking Portuguese biscuits. After visiting the church and wandering through this small community village, I sat at this little café to taste homemade pastries with a hot cup of coffee. The greeting was warm and friendly. They were quite busy selling to a group of Asian visitors, who came to visit the church and its community.