| St. Bernard's Church | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Main entrance to St. Bernard's Church in its eastern façade | |
 St. Bernard's Church | |
| 36°06′51″N5°20′54″W / 36.114299°N 5.348414°W /36.114299; -5.348414 | |
| Location | Europa Road |
| Country | Gibraltar |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Website | stbernardschurchgibraltar |
| Administration | |
| Diocese | Roman Catholic Diocese of Gibraltar |
St. Bernard's Church is one of eightRoman Catholicchurches in theBritish Overseas Territory ofGibraltar.
The church is located onEuropa Road nearEuropa Point, Gibraltar's southernmost tip. It is aparish church of theRoman Catholic Diocese of Gibraltar[1] and is named after one of Gibraltar's twopatron saints,Bernard of Clairvaux.[2]
The church enjoys views over theBay of Gibraltar andNorth Africa including theJebel Musa mountain on the southern coast of theStrait of Gibraltar.
St. Bernard's started off as theRoman Catholic church of theBritish Armed Forces in Gibraltar. The military had traditionally provided variousAnglican churches around theRock for thegarrison and they felt they should also provide a church for the Roman Catholics amongst them. A small disusedarmoury at Europa Road was identified for conversion into a simple church. The church was serviced byRoyal Navy Roman Catholicpadres but also attended by someGibraltarian civilians.[2]
Following therationalisation of the Rock's military facilities, the British Forces came to the conclusion that, as Gibraltar's population was predominantly Roman Catholic and church services were held inEnglish, this would already cater for the Roman Catholic servicemen's religious needs. However, considering that St. Bernard's already had a healthy community of churchgoers, mostly made up of Gibraltarian civilians but also with temporary yet active members of the forces, it was decided that the community should not be lost. Responsibility over the church was therefore taken over by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gibraltar in the early 1990s after naval padreVincent Docherty had arranged for the priest's house and church hall to be transferred together.[2]
However, it wasn't until theepiscopacy ofBishopCharles Caruana that the diocese secured a loan from theGovernment of Gibraltar to convert the small boxlike church, which suffered from water ingress at the time, into an aesthetically pleasing modern church with all the amenities.[2]
The first civilian to be appointed as priest in charge of St. Bernard's by the Diocese was Fr. Francis Little who was responsible for the church's transition from a military place of worship to a civilian one. Francis was also the first civilian priest to take on the role of honorary chaplain to the forces. This role has since been fulfilled by the priest in charge of St. Bernard's.[2]
