Celebrate a century of faith and service, 1909-2009

Intermountain Catholic

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?The Cathedral of the Madeleine plays an important role in the arts community, and is a piece of art in and of itself. It needs our support in order to stand fast into the future,? said Bishop George Niederauer, now Archbishop of San Francisco. The Bishop's Dinner is a fund raising event for the cathedral.IC photo by Christine Young

SALT LAKE CITY — "Throughout time, we have depended on people with the gift of wealth to support the arts, just as we depend on people with other gifts to support the community in any way they can. The Cathedral of the Madeleine plays an important role in the arts community, and is a piece of art in and of itself. It needs our support in order to stand fast into the future," said Bishop George Niederauer in 2004, now Archbishop of San Francisco.

The Cathedral of the Madeleine is continuing to celebrate its centennial year 2009, and is preparing for the historic and spiritual milestone in August. From Aug. 9 through Aug. 16, a line-up of events have been planned.

This year there will be a solemn Mass for the Solemnity of the Assumption by invitation only, in the Cathedral of the Madeleine concelebrated by Bishop Emeritus of Sacramento William K. Weigand, Archbishop of San Francisco George Niederauer, and Cardinal William Joseph Levada. The Bishop’s Dinner will follow that evening.

The Cathedral of the Madeleine is more than a house of worship much beloved by those who live in its surrounding parish. Its conception in the mind of the Diocese of Salt Lake City’s first bishop, Lawrence Scanlan, more than 100 years ago is a testament to the faith and the fortitude of early Utah Catholics. The Cathedral of the Madeleine is the mother church of the people of the diocese, a symbol of their story, their commitment, and their future.

But the Cathedral of the Madeleine holds a special place in the greater community as well. It stands as a gathering place in which all people of every faith are welcome. Carrying on the long tradition of great world cathedrals, it has become a home for the arts and humanities; a place where artists of all kinds share their talents with the community at concerts, plays, art and photography displays, lectures, and discussions. It is also a place where the city’s poor know they can find food with the Good Samaritan Program, social assistance, and counsel.

"By calling this annual event the Bishop’s Dinner, we are using the office of the bishop to show the importance and the value of the Cathedral in the life of the Catholic Church in Utah," said Msgr. J. Terrence Fitzgerald in 2004 at the opening of the Bishop’s Dinner, as diocesan administrator, now vicar general. "We all bear a responsibility for the care and maintenance of this wonderful cathedral, one of the finest cathedrals in the west."

Archbishop Niederauer currently serves as the Archbishop of San Francisco. By virtue of his office as ordinary of the San Francisco archdiocese, Niederauer is also metropolitan archbishop of the ecclesiastical province of San Francisco, which includes the suffragan dioceses of Honolulu, Las Vegas, Oakland, Reno, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Jose, Santa Rosa, and Stockton. Niederauer previously served as Bishop of Salt Lake City from 1994 to 2005.

Niederauer was ordained to the priesthood on April 30, 1962. He was raised to the rank of Honorary Prelate of His Holiness in 1984, and was appointed the eighth Bishop of Salt Lake City by Pope John Paul II Nov. 3, 1994. Niederauer received his episcopal consecration Jan. 25, 1995, from Roger Cardinal Mahony, with Archbishop William Levada and Bishop Tod David Brown serving as co-consecrators.

Bishop Weigand, has served as a Bishop since 1980, appointed by Pope John Paul II. His episcopate began in the Diocese of Salt Lake City where he was noted for solid leadership, community building, outreach to the Spanish-speaking, and the restoration of the Cathedral of the Madeleine over his more than 13-year tenure there.

Upon arrival in Sacramento in January 1994, having significant experience as an Ordinary, Bishop Weigand initiated many plans and actions that would renew and inspire the faithful in the Diocese of Sacramento in the 21st Century.

His commitment to Catholic education and vocations over the years, likewise, resulted in consistent progress in these areas. He responded to steady growth in the Diocese with a proactive response to the need for vocations.

By November 2008, Pope Benedict XVI accepted Bishop Weigand’s resignation. He presently serves, together with Bishop Francis Quinn, as Bishop Emeritus.

Cardinal Levada is an American Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He currently serves as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in the Roman Curia. He previously served as Archbishop of Portland, Ore., from 1986 to 1995, and Archbishop of San Francisco from 1995 to 2005. Levada was elevated to the cardinalate in 2006.

Cardinal Levada was born in Long Beach, Calif., to Joseph and Lorraine (née Nunez) Levada, both natives of Concord.

His great-grandparents came from Portugal and Ireland, and immigrated to the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1860s. He grew up in Long Beach and Houston, Texas, attended St. Anthony High School and then St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo, part of the Roman Catholic Archidiocese of Los Angeles.

From 1958 to 1961, Levada studied at the North American College and did his theological studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He was ordained to the priesthood Dec. 20, 1961, by Archbishop Martin O’Connor, rector of the Pontifical North American College and president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, in St. Peter’s Basilica.