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Diocese of Madison
Dec. 13, 2024
MADISON, Wisc., Dec. 13, 2024 /Standard Newswire/ -- As the world celebrates the re-opening of the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris five years after a fire, the Diocese of Madison, Wisc. is undertaking its own cathedral building project and plans to unveil its new cathedral 20 years after a fire destroyed its first mother-church.
In early 2024, St. Bernard Catholic Church, located just outside downtown Madison, was approved by the Holy See to be the Diocese of Madison’s new cathedral. The effort to transform the historic church into a cathedral is well under way with opening planned for 2025, 20 years after the diocese’s first cathedral, St. Raphael, burned down in an act of arson. Rather than build an entirely new cathedral church, Bishop Donald J. Hying said that renovating an existing church is “a better use of resources” and comes at a much more modest sum than brand-new construction.
“To build a new church downtown from scratch would cost $80 million or more if we wanted to make it as beautiful as our current renovation project,” said Hying.
St. Bernard Church was established as a parish in the early 1900s and the current building was finished in the 1920s. Renovations related to elevating the church to a cathedral have included replacing the 100-year-old concrete floor and roof tiles, adding murals and decorative artwork to the walls and ceiling, installing custom woodwork and statues, and increasing accessibility with new elevators and widened confessional stalls. A rare 1916 Skinner organ, which had been preserved for decades on a dairy farm, will also be installed, and the stunning stained-glass windows are in the process of being cleaned and releaded. Bells from Madison’s first cathedral will be installed in the bell tower, and the renovation will include other pieces salvaged from the ruins of St. Raphael Cathedral.
“Madison will once again have a cathedral,” Bishop Hying said. “Standing as a beacon in the heart of the city, the Cathedral of St. Bernard of Clairvaux will be a place of faith, hope, love, and service for generations to come.”
Those interested in learning more about and donating toward the project can visit madisoncathedral.org.
A video about the project is available at bit.ly/3DiZ1an
SOURCE Diocese of Madison
CONTACT: Kris Kranenburg, Director of Communications Diocese of Madison, 608-821-3168, Kris.Kranenburg@madisondiocese.org
