São Paulo – Few Brazilians know it, but there is a Brazilian church in Alexandria, Egypt. In 1868, a time in which Brazil was still a monarchy, emperor d. Pedro II ordered the replacement of the chapel of the Brazilian consulate general in the city with a catholic church. After 142 years, the consulate is no longer there, but the church is still standing and gets crowded on Sundays, as masses are held in the memory of the emperor.
The Brazilian church is a catholic Greek-Melkite church, which uses Byzantine rites in its masses, held in Arabic. According to anthropologist Antonio Brancaglion Junior, the person in charge of building the church was the Brazilian honorary consul to Alexandria, Miguel Debbane, who was a Lebanese count.
In 2008, Brancaglion went to Alexandria to visit the church and, according to him, the Debbane family, which is very traditional, is still responsible for it. Presently, the place is taken care of by Debbane’s granddaughter, who was named after her grandfather, Miguel.
At age 80, she told the anthropologist that the church is very well-liked and attended by the catholic community in Alexandria. Aside from d. Pedro II, count Debbane, who was buried in a crypt by the church, is also honoured during the masses.
The church was consecrated to Saint Peter Prince of the Apostles by the patriarch of Alexandria. "When I went there, I realized that the people do not know the church by its original name, but rather for ‘Debbane Church’," said Brancaglion. According to him, the place is well-kept and conserved, but is small and houses no images of saints.
Up until 1957, the church bore the Brazilian imperial shield on its side, but then it was replaced by the shield of the Brazilian Republic. According to the Brazilian ambassador to Cairo, Cesário Melantônio Neto, every year, on September 7th, the day of the independence of Brazil, the country’s flag is hoisted at the church.
Emperor’s visit
When he went to the Temple of Karnak in Luxor, in southern Egypt, d. Pedro II claimed that France and Egypt were two of his lifelong passions. Perhaps for that reason, according to Brancaglion, the emperor chose the Arab country to build a Brazilian landmark in.
The anthropologist underscores that Alexandria, at that time, was a very important city, because it was home to the main port in the Mediterranean and several consulates. In 1871, d. Pedro II and empress Tereza Cristina went to the Arab country and visited the church.
The emperor was the first Brazilian head of state to pay a visit to the Middle East. His passion for Arab countries even led him to learn Arabic. Throughout his life, d. Pedro II was a major collector of historical items from Ancient Egypt, which are now on display at the National Museum of Rio de Janeiro.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
