Sacred Heart Church, Jamestown
The Sacred Heart Church is a religious building that is affiliated with the Catholic Church and is located in the town of Jamestown on the island of Saint Helena part of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha in the southern Atlantic Ocean.
This is one of 3 operating Catholic churches in that territory, the others being those located in Georgetown, in Ascension Island and the Edinburgh of the Seven Seas on the island of Tristan da Cunha.
The first Catholic priests came to Saint Helena with Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1819. Father Antonio Bounavita and Father Ange Vignali arrived on St. Helena. Bounavita, left the island in March 1821 leaving Vignali to administer Extreme Unction to Napoleon on the 5th of May 1821 and conduct his burial service on the 9th of May. There were only sporadic visits from priests for the next thirty years. A permanent church was built in 1852 and the first resident priest arrived and it was under the jurisdiction of Apostolic Vicariate of Cape of Good Hope, Western District. The congregation is part of the constituency of the Mission sui juris of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha which was created in 1986 under the pontificate of Pope John Paul II.
