Église Notre-Dame de Fatima, Catholic church in 19th arrondissement, France.
Notre-Dame de Fatima is a Roman Catholic church at the corner of boulevard Sérurier and avenue de la Porte-du-Pré-Saint-Gervais, built of light-brown brick and stone. A slender bell tower crowned by a cross rises on one side of the gabled facade; opposite it stands the small "Lanterne des Morts" tower, which holds the baptistery and also serves as a confessional. Inside, the concrete walls imitate stone paving, and tall, narrow non-figurative stained-glass windows in yellow and blue are by Gabriel Loire.
Notre-Dame-de-Fatima was built between 1950 and 1954 to plans by Henri Vidal, with the first stone laid by Bishop Daniel Pézeril in 1950. Cardinal Suhard commissioned it as thanks for Paris being spared in the Second World War, and it was first named Marie-Médiatrice-de-Toutes-les-Grâces. A planned housing estate never materialised, the church closed from 1974 to 1988, then reopened with the neighbouring Robert-Debré hospital and was given to the Portuguese community.
The church was renamed Notre-Dame de Fatima-Marie-Médiatrice by Cardinal Lustiger and is now the church of Paris's Portuguese community. Inside are statues of Our Lady of Fatima, Mary Mediatrix, Saint Joseph and Saint Anthony. The small tower opposite the bell tower holds the baptistery, which also serves as a confessional.
Regular services take place throughout the week, with special ceremonies on major Catholic holidays like Easter and Christmas. Visitors should plan visits around these important dates if they wish to experience fuller celebrations.
The sanctuary is named after Our Lady of Fatima, honoring a Portuguese devotion to Mary. This naming reflects the deep spiritual connection the community maintains with its homeland.
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