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Origin and history

Notre-Dame de l'Assumption de Sainte-Marie is a Catholic church located on the island of La Réunion, French overseas department in the Indian Ocean. Built in the mid-18th century, it is the fourth oldest church on the island. Its origin dates back to 1729, when Anne Mousse, the first woman born in La Réunion, had a chapel erected near the place where her husband, Noël Tessier, was buried. Today, only the foundations of this chapel remain, serving as the basis for the present church.

The present building was erected in 1748, with a masonry completed in 1754. The first chapel was built in 1667 by the forban Dominique Ferrère, rescued from a shipwreck. A first wooden church was built in 1735, then replaced by a stone building. The church was listed as a historic monument in 2012, and now belongs to a diocesan association.

In 2012, the church was also associated with a legal scandal involving Jacky Hoarau, former parish priest of Sainte-Marie, convicted of sexual assault on a choir child. The latter was HIV-positive at the time of the incident, an information known to his superior, Gilbert Aubry, who had been informed of it during the investigation and trial.

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