Rededication for historic Dogura Cathedral

The iconic Cathedral in Dogura, Milne Bay *(Image: Supplied)*

The iconic Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul in Milne Bay, once the largest building in Papua New Guinea, has undergone a major restoration to preserve its 87-year legacy.

The historic European-style structure, which serves as the seat of the Anglican Diocese of Dogura, was celebrated with a formal rededication service over the weekend.

Built between 1934 and 1939, the cathedral is a landmark of the Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea. Despite its significance, years of maintenance and refurbishment plans had stalled as various fundraising drives failed to reach the required targets for work to commence.

Milne Bay Governor Gordon Wesley, speaking at the ceremony, emphasized the cultural and historical weight of the restoration.

Rededication ceremony *(Image: NBC News)*

"It is one of the most historical cathedrals in the province and most likely the country too, much older than us," Governor Wesley said.

"Some of us were not even born yet when this was put up. It was built by our people's bare hands with no machinery, and to me, it is very important to restore."

The restoration was made possible through a K500,000 allocation from the Milne Bay Provincial Government’s Provincial Service Improvement Program [PSIP] last year. The project was supervised by the Provincial Works Unit.

The cathedral was rededicated on Sunday by the Acting Archbishop of the Anglican Church of PNG, Nathan Ingen, and officially opened for use by Wesley.

Archbishop Ingen said the restoration also addresses a critical need for administrative space for Anglican Health Services in the province.

Inside the historic St. Peter and St. Paul cathedral *(Image: NBC News)*

"Since the Health Services establishment, there has never been a dedicated Anglican Health Services administration office for Milne Bay," Ingen said.

"It was a health centre room used as an office that basically accommodated only two officers. When I came in as Manager and we increased staff to nine, we needed space."

Dogura remains a vital hub for the region as one of the co-founder of Christian Health Services PNG.

"We already know the Southern Region wants to come here for their conference, so now we are ready for them," he said.

The massive building, completed just before the outbreak of World War II, took five years to finish and remains a testament to the manual labor of the local community who constructed it without modern machinery.