The Saint Sebastian Parish Church (Portuguese: Igreja Matriz de São Sebastião) is a Catholic religious temple located in the Brazilian city of Coronel Fabriciano, in the interior of the state of Minas Gerais.
It was inaugurated in 1949, consolidating the installation of the first religious institution based in the Vale do Aço metropolitan area as a result of the arrival of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer in August 1948, responsible for the final phase of the construction of the church and for maintaining the Saint Sebastian Parish.
[2] The architectural style was defined by the then archbishop of Mariana, Dom Helvécio Gomes de Oliveira, and the preliminary work was led by Father Deolindo Coelho, responsible for the local curate, subordinate to the Our Lady of Nazareth Parish, based in Antônio Dias.
[3] The collapse of the old cathedral of Itabira, a few days after the resignation of the then diocesan bishop Dom Marcos Antônio Noronha in November 1970, led to the transfer of the functions of the episcopal liturgical space to the Saint Sebastian Parish Church in Coronel Fabriciano.
The 19-meter tower, detached from the body of the building, has a square plan, with details in relief and a sloped slab roof, with a bell and a clock on top, the latter manufactured in 1952 in the city of Jacutinga, south of Minas Gerais.
Rotildino Avelino also donated the image of Saint Sebastian of the old Parish Church, ordered from Rio de Janeiro in the 1920s, which he himself sheltered after rescuing it from the debris of the collapsed temple.
[11] The route of the Corpus Christi carpet started in the church and went all the way to Pedro Nolasco Street, then returned to the temple, being transferred to the neighborhoods Santa Helena and Professores after the completion of the new diocesan headquarters.