Military Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Santiago, Catholic cathedral in Providencia, Santiago, Chile

The Military Cathedral of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is a large Catholic church in Providencia that serves as the seat of the Military Bishopric. The building welcomes both armed forces personnel and the general public for religious services and ceremonies.

In the 19th century the site was the chapel of Lo Bravo, which became the Parish of St. Ramon after 1900. The church was blessed on March 17, 1986, and consecrated on December 27, 1994, the feast of St. John the Evangelist, as the episcopal seat of Chile's Military Bishopric.

The cathedral is the seat of Chile's Military Bishopric, serving the Armed Forces and Carabineros while remaining open to the public. Above the altar hang the banners of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Carabineros. On the frontis, a plaque bears a prayer of forgiveness for children who are victims of abortion, placed for the Day of the Holy Innocents.

The cathedral stands at Avenida Los Leones 71, at its junction with Avenida Nueva Providencia, near the Costanera Center and the former Military Hospital. The main nave holds 800 people and each of the two side naves 200, so services can be busy; plan a visit outside mass times. The building is open to the general public, not only to armed forces personnel.

In the central apse hangs Pedro Lira's 1906 painting "Curación del Endemoniado", showing Jesus healing a possessed man; it was declared a Chilean Historic Monument and installed here in 1986. Above, facing the altar, fly the standards of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Carabineros.