Cathedral of the Holy Cross (Boston)

Last updated

Cathedral of the Holy Cross
Holy Cross Cathedral - Boston 01.jpg
Cathedral of the Holy Cross as seen from Washington Street (2024)
Cathedral of the Holy Cross (Boston)
42°20′26″N71°04′10″W / 42.340693°N 71.069344°W / 42.340693; -71.069344
Location1400 Washington Street
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
CountryUnited States of America
Denomination Roman Catholic Church
Website holycrossboston.com
History
Status Cathedral
(also parish church)
DedicatedDecember 8, 1875
Architecture
Functional statusActive
Architect(s) Patrick Keely
Style Gothic Revival
Groundbreaking April 29, 1866
Specifications
Capacity1,700 people
Length364 feet
Width90 feet
Height120 feet
Materials Roxbury puddingstone and gray limestone
Administration
Archdiocese Boston
Clergy
Archbishop Most Rev. Richard Henning
Rector The Very Reverend Monsignor Kevin J. O’Leary
Vicar(s) Reverend Pablo Gomis
Deacon(s) Ricardo M. Mesa
Laity
Organist/Director of music Richard J. Clark
Part of South End District
NRHP reference No. 73000324 [1]
Added to NRHPMay 8, 1973

The Cathedral of the Holy Cross is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston in Massachusetts. It is one of the largest Catholic churches in New England.

Contents

The cathedral is located in the city's South End on Washington Street. Construction of the cathedral started in 1866 and it was dedicated in 1875. As of 2025, the rector of the cathedral is Monsignor Kevin J. O'Leary.

History

Main article: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston

In 1860, Bishop John Fitzpatrick, bishop of the Diocese of Boston, recognized that the diocese had outgrown Holy Cross Cathedral. However, with the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, he was unable to start its construction. [2]

When the war ended in 1865, Bishop John Williams took over planning for the cathedral project. He decided to locate the building in the South End neighborhood of Boston. The South End was initially developed for Boston's emerging Protestant middle class. However, by the time the cathedral was being built, it was transitioning to new immigrants, mostly Irish, as the original residents moved out. [3]

To finance the new cathedral, the diocese sought donations from wealthy Catholics. It also established a Church Debt Society among working class Catholics; members would donate 50 cents a month for the cathedral construction. The diocese also sponsored dramatic readings, concerts, fairs and raffles to raise money. [3]

The diocese broke ground on the new cathedral on April 29, 1866. Williams named it Holy Cross after the relic of holy cross owned by the diocese. This relic was a wooden splinter said to have come from the cross used in the crucifixion of Christ. Williams, now archbishop of Boston, dedicated Holy Cross Cathedral on December 8, 1875. [2]

Cardinal Richard Cushing on January 19, 1964, celebrated a requiem mass for US President John F. Kennedy, who had been assassinated in November 1963. The mass was taped and broadcast nationally on radio and television. [4] During the mass, the Boston Symphony Orchestra accompanied the Mozart Requiem . [5]

On October 1, 1979, Pope John Paul II held a 38-minute prayer service for 2,000 priests in the cathedral during his first papal visit to the United States. [6]

A janitor in July 2010 discovered that someone had stolen the relic of the holy cross. The thief had pried open its compartment at the base of a hanging cross. [7] A Vermont man in August 2010 surrendered the relic to the Vermont State Police, saying that he received it from another man. The police returned the relic to the archdiocese, which now displayed only on special occasions. [8]

On April 18, 2013, an interfaith prayer vigil was held at the cathedral in honor of the victims of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. US President Barack Obama delivered the eulogy. [9] [10]

In 2018, the archdiocese undertook the first major renovation of the cathedral since its construction. [11] The contractors removed 8,000 square feet of oak flooring, replacing it with stone. The pews were restored, the electrical system was updated, a fire protection system was provided and air conditioning was installed. [12] The $26 million renovation was completed in April 2019. [13]

An Attleboro, Massachusetts, man in October 2023 vandalized the large crucifix mounted on the cathedral lawn, causing $20,000 in damage. [14]

Cathedral

Architecture

The Cathedral of the Holy Cross was designed in the Gothic Revival style by the architect Patrick Keely, who built many churches around the country. Supervision of the construction fell largely to Keely and his assistant, architect John A. Dempwolf. [3] [15]

The cathedral is 120 ft (37 m) tall, 364 ft (111 m) in length and 90 ft (27 m) wide at the transepts. The original plan called for the building of two towers on the building, but they were never realized. The building covers 50,000 square feet and has a seating capacity of 2000 in the main level. [11] The cathedral contains an oratory for smaller services in the lower level. Until the completion of the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Hartford, Connecticut in 1957, Holy Cross was the largest cathedral in New England.

The cathedral is constructed of Roxbury puddingstone and gray limestone. The builders incorporated some brick in the arch over the front door from the Ursuline convent that was burned during the anti-Catholic 1834 riots in Charlestown. [3]

A planned western spire was never completed. [16]

Pipe organ

The Cathedral of the Holy Cross owns an opus 801 pipe organ from the E. and G. G. Hook & Hastings Company of Boston that was installed in 1875. When the organ was updated in 1929, the archdiocese replaced the organ console with one taken from a theater. [17] [18]

In 2003, the Andover Organ Company of Lawrence, Massachusetts, built a new opus R-394 console for the organ. It is a replica of the original three-manual console. The company also updated the organ wiring [17] [18]

Parish

The Cathedral parish consists of large English- and Spanish-speaking congregations. The parish also includes three archdiocese-wide congregations:

Cathedral High School

Main article: Cathedral High School (Boston)

In 1927, Cardinal William O'Connell founded Cathedral High School adjacent to the church. The Sisters of St. Joseph operated the institution. The school remains at this site today. [19]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace</span> Historic Roman Catholic church in Hawaii, United States

The Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace is the mother church and cathedral of the Diocese of Honolulu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holy Name Cathedral (Chicago)</span> Seat of the Archdiocese of Chicago in Illinois, US

Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago is the seat of the Archdiocese of Chicago, one of the largest Catholic dioceses in the United States. The church serves as the episcopal seat of the current Archbishop of Chicago, Cardinal Blase J. Cupich.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. James Cathedral (Seattle)</span> Church in Washington, United States

St. James Cathedral is a Catholic cathedral located at 804 Ninth Avenue in the First Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the mother church of the Archdiocese of Seattle and the seat of its archbishop, currently Paul D. Etienne. The cathedral is named for St. James the Greater, patron saint of the archdiocese, and is the third church in the territory presently known as the Archdiocese of Seattle to bear the name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trinity Church (Boston)</span> Historic church in Massachusetts, United States

Trinity Church in the City of Boston, located in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, is a parish of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts. The congregation, currently standing at approximately 4,000 households, was founded in 1733. Three services are offered each Sunday, and weekday services are offered once a week from September through June. Within the spectrum of worship styles in the Anglican tradition, Trinity Church has historically been considered a Broad Church parish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Augustine Healy</span> American Roman Catholic bishop (1830–1900)

James Augustine Healy was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He was the first known African American to serve as a Catholic priest or bishop. With his predominantly European ancestry, Healy passed for a white man and identified as such.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston</span> Latin Catholic ecclesiastical jurisdiction in the U.S.

The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Boston is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or archdiocese, of the Catholic Church in eastern Massachusetts in the United States. Its mother church is the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston. The archdiocese is the fourth largest in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cathedral of St. Joseph (Hartford, Connecticut)</span> Historic church in Connecticut, United States

The Cathedral of St. Joseph in Hartford, Connecticut, United States, is the mother church and seat of the Archdiocese of Hartford. Dedicated on May 15, 1962, it stands on the site of the old cathedral which had been destroyed in a fire. It is located on Farmington Avenue just outside downtown Hartford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benedict Joseph Fenwick</span> American Catholic bishop (1782–1846)

Benedict Joseph Fenwick was an American Catholic prelate, Jesuit, and educator who served as the Bishop of Boston from 1825 until his death in 1846. In 1843, he founded the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. Prior to that, he was twice the president of Georgetown College and established several educational institutions in New York City and Boston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Joseph Cathedral (Buffalo, New York)</span> Church in New York, United States

Saint Joseph Cathedral is located at 50 Franklin Street in downtown Buffalo, New York within the Joseph Ellicott Historic District, and is currently the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cathedral of Chihuahua</span> Cathedral in Chihuahua City, Mexico

The Metropolitan Cathedral Church of the Holy Cross, Our Lady of Regla, and St Francis of Assisi is the main ecclesiastical building of the Catholic Church in Chihuahua City, Chihuahua, Mexico. It is considered perhaps the finest example of colonial architecture in northern Mexico and it was built between 1725 and 1792. The cathedral is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chihuahua. As of 2013 the archbishop was Constancio Miranda Weckmann.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrick Keely</span> Irish-American architect

Patrick Charles Keely was an Irish-American architect based in Brooklyn, New York, and Providence, Rhode Island. He was a prolific designer of nearly 600 churches and hundreds of other institutional buildings for the Roman Catholic Church or Roman Catholic patrons in the eastern United States and Canada, particularly in New York City, Boston and Chicago in the later half of the 19th century. He designed every 19th-century Catholic cathedral in New England. Several other church and institutional architects began their careers in his firm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist (Charleston, South Carolina)</span> Church in South Carolina , United States

The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston, located in Charleston, South Carolina. Designed by Brooklyn architect Patrick Keely, the construction of the cathedral started in 1890 to replace a cathedral that burned down in 1861. St. John the Baptist was dedicated in 1907.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul (Providence, Rhode Island)</span> Historic church in Rhode Island, United States

The Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul is a Roman Catholic cathedral in the Cathedral Square neighborhood of Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the mother church of the Diocese of Providence. The Neo-Romanesque church was designed in 1873 by Patrick Keely and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament</span> Historic church in Michigan, United States

The Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament is a Neo-Gothic style Roman Catholic cathedral church in the United States. It is the seat of the archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit. The metropolitan archdiocese for the Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Detroit includes all dioceses in the state of Michigan; in addition, in 2000 the archdiocese accepted pastoral responsibility for the Roman Catholic Church in the Cayman Islands, which consists of Saint Ignatius Parish on Grand Cayman. The cathedral is located at 9844 Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan, adjacent to Detroit's Boston-Edison Historic District. The cathedral was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timothy A. McDonnell</span> Retired American religious leader (born 1937)

Timothy Anthony McDonnell is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. McDonnell served as bishop of the Diocese of Springfield in Massachusetts from 2004 to 2014 and as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New York from 2001 to 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist (Cleveland, Ohio)</span> Church in Ohio , United States

The Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist is a historic Roman Catholic church building located at 1007 Superior Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States. Completed and consecrated in 1852, it is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland. Numerous renovations have enlarged and changed some aspects of the cathedral, but it remains essentially the same since its construction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cathedral of the Epiphany (Sioux City, Iowa)</span> Church in Iowa, United States

The Cathedral of the Epiphany is a cathedral and a parish church located in Sioux City, Iowa, United States. It is the seat of the Diocese of Sioux City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holy Name Church (West Roxbury, Massachusetts)</span> Church in Massachusetts, United States

Holy Name Church in West Roxbury is a Roman Catholic church of the Archdiocese of Boston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church (Indianapolis, Indiana)</span> Historic church in Indiana, United States

Saint John the Evangelist Catholic Church is a Catholic parish of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. The parish's origins date to 1837, when it was first named Holy Cross parish. In 1850 it was renamed Saint John the Evangelist parish, and is the oldest Catholic parish in the city and in Marion County, Indiana. Considered the mother of the Catholic parishes in Indianapolis, it played an important role in development of the Catholic Church in the city. Saint John's Church served as the pro-cathedral of the diocese from 1878 until 1906; its rectory served as the bishop's residence and chancery from 1878 until 1892. In 1900 the church served as the site of first episcopal consecration held in Indianapolis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Deeley</span> American Catholic prelate (born 1946)

Robert Peter Deeley is an American prelate of the Catholic Church who served as bishop of the Latin Church diocese of Portland in Maine from 2013 to 2024. He is currently bishop emeritus of Portland. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Boston in Massachusetts from 2012 to 2013.

References

  1. ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. 1 2 "Our History". Cathedral of the Holy Cross. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 4 O'Connor, Thomas H.; O'Toole, James M.; Quigley, David, eds. (2004). "Race, Ethnicity, and Class in Boston's Holy Cross Cathedral". Boston's Histories: Essays in Honor of Thomas H. O'Connor. UPNE. p. 104. ISBN   978-1-5555-3582-7.
  4. ↑ McCabe, Neil (January 23, 2009). "Cardinal Cushing, BSO honored JFK with Mozart's 'Requiem' 45 years ago". The Boston Pilot. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
  5. ↑ "Kennedy Memorial Service 1964". British Pathé . Reuters . Retrieved August 17, 2018.
  6. ↑ Mooney, Brian C. (April 3, 2005). "In Boston, America first greeted John Paul". The Boston Globe. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  7. ↑ Wangsness, Lisa (July 13, 2010). "Relic of cross stolen from cathedral". The Boston Globe . Retrieved September 10, 2018.
  8. ↑ "Relic of True Cross stolen from cathedral recovered". www.thebostonpilot.com. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  9. ↑ Nelson, Angela (April 16, 2013). "Upcoming reflection services for victims of the Boston Marathon bombing". The Boston Globe. Retrieved April 16, 2013.
  10. ↑ Thistlethwaite, Susan Brooks (April 18, 2013). "Obama preaches 'a state of grace' in Boston". The Washington Post . Retrieved August 17, 2018.
  11. 1 2 "Cathedral Of The Holy Cross Undergoes First Renovation In 150 Years". WBZ News . June 20, 2018. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  12. ↑ "Cathedral of the Holy Cross". Longleaf Lumber, Inc. June 21, 2018. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  13. ↑ Hughes, Lisa (April 5, 2019). "Cathedral Of The Holy Cross Ready For Palm Sunday After $26 Million Renovation". WBZ News. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  14. ↑ Vega, Anthony (October 25, 2023). "Arrest made in vandalism of Jesus statue outside Boston church". NBC Boston. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  15. ↑ "An Architectural Experience: The Dempwolf Contribution to York's Streetscape". Virtual York. Archived from the original on June 20, 2003. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
  16. ↑ "About". Cathedral of the Holy Cross. Archived from the original on April 25, 2013. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  17. 1 2 "Holy Cross Cathedral, Boston, Massachusetts". Andover Organ Company. Archived from the original on May 13, 2008. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  18. 1 2 "E. & G. G. Hook & Hastings Organ, opus 801, 1875" (PDF). American Guild of Organists . Archived from the original (PDF) on March 26, 2010. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  19. ↑ "About CHS". Cathedral High School. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.