Mater Dolorosa Katolik Kilisesi (Acı Çeken Meryem Ana)Mater Dolorosa Catholic Church (Our Lady of Sorrows)

In 1845 eight Italian Capuchin friars who had been forced to leave Georgia met, as they crossed the Black Sea, Latin Catholics without a church; there were such communities in Trabzon and Giresun as well as Samsun. In 1851 French Marist priests opened a school; a wooden church and house were built on land donated by an Italian lady. In those years about 30 percent of Samsun’s population was Christian.

In 1876 Sultan Murad V gave special permission for a new church, and work began on a small church measuring 8 by 12 meters; two years later its title deed was also sent. After the church was completed, a friary, rental apartments and a cemetery were built beside it in 1885, and the walls were decorated with frescoes. In 1913 the building was confiscated and the priests were squeezed into two rooms with a leaking roof. In 1976 the mayor wanted the church demolished and a park built in its place; the church was saved by the efforts of the papal nunciature and the Italian consulate.

In 1998 an extensive restoration was carried out under the leadership of Father Ruggero Franceschini, responsible for the Catholic churches of Anatolia. In 2006 the church’s priest, Father Pierre Brunissen, was attacked with a knife. After being closed for several years, the church reopened in 2017 with Argentine Franciscans and served especially the Catholic migrants of the region.

At the end of 2023 the church reopened with the “Omnes Gentes” community, founded at the invitation of the Apostolic Vicariate of Anatolia by the Marist Fathers (Society of Mary) and the Marist Missionary Sisters (SMSM). Made up of members from all over the world, the community is lively today, with regular Masses.