Igreja Melquita de São Jorge, Juiz de Fora, Melkite Catholic church in Santa Helena district, Juiz de Fora, Brazil.
Igreja Melquita de São Jorge is a Melkite Catholic parish church in the Santa Helena district of Juiz de Fora, built for Syrian worshippers of the Byzantine Rite. Construction was completed in 1965, when the first Mass was celebrated. The church follows the Eastern Catholic tradition and remains frequented by the local Arab community.
Syrian immigrants established this religious center in 1958 following the Byzantine Rite tradition. The Arab presence in Juiz de Fora had begun decades earlier in the late 1800s and continued to grow.
The Melkite Beneficial Society of São Jorge, founded in 1957, is made up of women who still meet once a week to pray and sing in Arabic. On Saint George's Day the society sets up stalls with typical Arab food in the streets near the church, and the proceeds go to social works.
The church stands in the Santa Helena district of Juiz de Fora. On Saint George's Day, the Melkite Beneficial Society sets up stalls with typical Arab food in the streets near the church, and the proceeds go to social works. The society's women meet weekly to pray and sing in Arabic.
The Saint George Beneficial Society, founded in 1957, is made up of women who still meet once a week to pray and sing in Arabic. It organizes the Saint George's Day street fair near the church, with stalls of typical Arab food whose proceeds go to social works.
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