Mount Carmel: In Garapan (Saipan) During the German Period

Spennemann, Dirk

Introduction: "Today, as much as during the nineteenth century, the Catholic faith plays a major role in community life in the Mariana Islands. The focal point of the faith has always been the church, a locale for the congregation to come together for mass, and a venue for organized worship. A church building is also a visual statement of the wealth and strength of a community, and an expression of financial commitment. The building serves to impress on the members of the community, especially the younger members, the importance of the church as an institution. But the building also demonstrates to others the aspirations and wealth of the community that built it. In many communities the size and appearance of a church became the focus of interdenominational competition and jealousy. In the Marianas, which were almost exclusively Catholic, this competition was not a factor. However, as the community changes, so too does the church building. Modernization and alteration, usually in the form of expansion are commonplace. The impetus for this is derived either from a change in governance, or because the edifice has been damaged during a natural disaster. This brief study considers the church at Garapan, originally consecrated as San Isidoro (1854), then as Nuestra Senora del Carmen (1893), and finally as Christo Rei (after World War II). While the study focuses on the German colonial period (1899-1914), some context of the Spanish period has to be provided. The aim of this booklet is to collate all available information, textual and pictorial, on the church Mount Carmel in Garapan during the German colonial period. The quality of the images reproduced here fluctuates from very good to quite poor. Images that in the absence of original prints had to be copied from early 20th century publications suffer from quality problems. In view of the aim of being as exhaustive as possible, this variation in reproduction quality could not be avoid." Project funding was provided by a Historic Preservation Fund grant to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Historic Preservation Office, administered by the Interior Regions 8, 9, 10, and 12, National Park Service, U.S. Department of Interior.

Mount Carmel: In Garapan (Saipan) During the German Period

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