The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception for the Archdiocese of Samoa-Apia will be dedicated 31 May.
The dedication ceremony includes traditional presentations by various parishes and entertainment to be provided by the Catholic college students at the Tofamamao Pastoral Centre, Leauva’a.
Built by Father Ricky Bernard and a team of local builders, the project relied on the financial support of the church members.
Bernard worked together with other designers who are based overseas in the final design.
He says lot of the influence of the final design comes from what he has seen and documented in photographs he took of churches and medieval buildings he has seen in Europe.
Bernard comes from a family of carpenters and his late father is well known to have made altars with significant carvings of Samoan and biblical images and references.
Fr Ricky has built Catholic churches in the villages he has served in the past and once built a long boat for the youth of a village he served at Malotau on the western side of Upolu island.
“Believing in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit is my source of knowledge of building churches and this cathedral and becoming a carpenter,” he said.
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