A lot can happen to a cathedral in 97 years: Our bishops' impacts on the Mother Church - Part I

Intermountain Catholic

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The stained glass window in the east transept of the Cathedral of the Madeleine illustrates the First Glorious Mystery of the Rosary, the Resurrection of Jesus. The Joyful Mysteries and the Glorious Mysteries are represented in stained glass on the west and east walls of the cathedral, respectively. The Sorrowful Mysteries once were located above the sanctuary. What happened to them? IC photo by Barbara S. Lee

Editor’s note: The Cathedral of the Madeleine will hold their annual Bishop’s Dinner, a fund raiser for the care and maintenance of the Cathedral of the Madeleine and its environs, Sept. 26, 2006, at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City.

SALT LAKE CITY — As the Cathedral of the Madeleine is prepared for the celebration of its centenary celebration in 2009, we look as the changes this remarkable building has undergone in its first 100 years. Each one of the Diocese of Salt Lake City’s eight bishops has had a singular impact on the diocese’s mother church.

Bernice Maher Mooney’s book, "The Story of the Cathedral of the Madeleine," published in 1981, traces the Cathedral story, paralleling it with the work of Bishops Lawrence Scanlan through William K. Weigand.

Bishop Lawrence Scanlan (1843-1915) was responsible for the Cathedral’s first plans and its construction. In 1890, Bishop Scanlan purchased land for the Cathedral from Sarah M. McKibben for $35,000. Another plot behind the first plot was purchased from Lorenzo D. Young for $14,500 that same year. Ground was broken for the Cathedral July 4, 1899. Its cornerstone was laid a year later.

The Cathedral’s construction took a full 10 years and approximately $300,000. The dedication ceremony took place Aug. 15, 1909.

The diocese’s second bishop, Joseph Sarsfield Glass (1874-1926), a man with a deep appreciation for art, was responsible for the interior decoration of the Cathedral as we see it now. With American architect John Theodore Comes, Bishop Glass drew from many European traditions to bring color, artistic representations, and handcrafted woodwork to the Cathedral of the Madeleine.

It was during Bishop Glass’ term that the stained glass windows that illustrated the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary, located behind and above the sanctuary, were removed and replaced with huge murals.

"During the restoration process undertaken in 1975," the removal of the stained glass "was confirmed;" Mooney wrote "however, it is not known what was done with the glass."

It was also during Bishop Glass’ tenure – in 1919, that the original altar of the Cathedral of the Madeleine was removed and, according to Msgr. M. Francis Mannion, former rector of the Cathedral and current pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Parish, was sent to Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Lake Charles, La.

Bishop John Joseph Mitty (184-1961) was responsible for the new placement of the bishop’s coat of arms above the episcopal chair, the consecration of three marble altars in 1928, and oversaw the assembly of pews by men of the diocese.

Bishop Mitty also urged women of the diocese to "follow your patron, Mary Magdalene," Mooney wrote.

"He left an authentic priestly imprint upon the Cathedral of the Madeleine..." she wrote, before he was named Coadjutor Archbishop of San Francisco.

His successor, Bishop James E. Kearney (1884-1977), served the Diocese of Salt Lake City from 1932 until he was called to serve as bishop of Rochester, N.Y., in 1937. In his short tenure, Bishop Kearney brought his love of poetry and literature to the Cathedral. He undertook the retirement of the debt on the Cathedral by 1935, the Cathedral’s Jubilee Year, by soliciting funds in dioceses throughout the country.

Bishop Kearney’s words remind today’s Catholics of our responsibility to the Cathedral of the Madeleine: "Please don’t take the Cathedral for granted. It has no revenues and wants none beyond the continual loyal and wholehearted support of its people."

Despite the Great Depression, Bishop Kearney encouraged renewed commitments to retirement of the Cathedral debt: "Unless we select this time, in spite of depression, the problem in all likelihood will continue indefinitely."

In the next issue of the Intermountain Catholic we will look at the legacy left for Utah Catholics in the Cathedral by Bishops Leo J. Steck, Duane G, Hunt, Joseph L. Federal, William K. Weigand, and George H. Niederauer.

For further information about the 2006 Bishop’s Dinner please call (801)328-8941.