French Church

About

The French Church of the Sacred Heart (Romanian: Biserica Franceză "Sacré-Cœur") is a Roman Catholic parish church located at 3 Gheorghe Demetriade Street, Bucharest, Romania. It is classified as a historic monument by the Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs. In the spring of 1906, Monsignor Vladimir Ghika, working with Sister Elisabeta Pucci, whom he had called from Thessaloniki, began work on a building for the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul on land donated by Maria Pâcleanu.

In 1922, work began on the Saint Vincent de Paul Sanatorium, inside of which there was a chapel where masses were held until 1930. Additionally, there was a chapel in Pâcleanu's adjacent residence. In 1930, next to the sanatorium's eastern wall, the Daughters of Charity built the parish church, with the altar facing north.

On November 12, 1946, the C. I. Parhon Endocrinology Institute was established in the building of the sanatorium.

Thus, the area retained a charitable focus, but the church was closed in 1957, a decade into the Communist regime; all charitable activity "by superiors for the poor, orphans and the sick" had been outlawed. On rare occasions, services were held for foreign...