- Sacred Heart Cathedral, Wellington
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Sacred Heart Cathedral Metropolitan Cathedral of the Sacred Heart and St Mary his Mother 
Wellington, Hill St41°16′36″S 174°46′34″E / 41.2766°S 174.7762°E Location Thorndon, Wellington Central City Country New Zealand Denomination Catholic Website Sacred Heart Cathedral website History Former name(s) St Mary's Cathedral Founded 1850, 1901 Founder(s) Philippe Viard, 1st Bishop of Wellington Dedication 1850, 1901 Consecrated 1984[1] Architecture Heritage designation Category I Designated 2 April 1985 Architect(s) Francis Petre Architectural type Neo-classical Completed 1901 Administration Parish Sacred Heart Cathedral Parish Clergy Bishop(s) Archbishop John Atcherley Dew, 6th Archbishop of Wellington (2005-present) Priest(s) Fr James Lyons (Cathedral Administrator and Parish Priest) Laity Director of music Michael Fletcher Organist(s) Michael Fletcher The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Sacred Heart and of Saint Mary His Mother, better known as Sacred Heart Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral on Hill Street, Thorndon in Wellington, New Zealand. It is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Wellington
Contents
History
The first church to be built on the Hill Street Site was St. Mary's Cathedral, blessed and opened in 1851. It was gutted by fire in 1898, during repainting. Because the Catholic population of Wellington was then mostly based in the Te Aro and Newtown areas, it was decided that a new cathedral should be erected in that part of the city and a 'serviceable church in brick' built on the site of the old cathedral.[2]
Sacred Heart interior, circa 1910.
However the new church, called the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, was rather grander than this. Its foundation stone was laid in 1899 and the building blessed and opened two years later. The money to build Sacred Heart was taken from the fund for the new cathedral. The new cathedral was never actually built. In 1983 the Basilica was elevated to the status of a cathedral by Cardinal Thomas Williams. The following year it was made a Category 1 Historic Place.[2]
Design
Designed by architect Francis Petre, Sacred Heart was built on a classical basilican plan, with ionic columns of Oamaru stone and a high pediment. For a period it had twin bell towers topped with domes, but these additions - not in Petre's design - were removed in 1942, following an earthquake.
The interior features a main aisle and two side aisles, a large colonnaded nave and a large arch forming the entrance to the sanctuary.[2]
See also
- Francis Petre and Sacred Heart Cathedral, Wellington
- Sacred Heart Cathedral School, Thorndon
- St Mary's College, Wellington
- Sisters of Mercy
- Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Wellington
- Roman Catholicism in New Zealand
- Holy Cross College (New Zealand)
- Holy Name Seminary
References
- ^ Dan Kelly, p. 155.
- ^ a b c Sacred Heart Cathedral website, History of the Cathedral (retrieved 31 August 2011).
Sources
- Official site
- "Cathedral of the Sacred Heart (Catholic)". Register of Historic Places. New Zealand Historic Places Trust. http://www.historic.org.nz/TheRegister/RegisterSearch/RegisterResults.aspx?RID=214&m=advanced. Retrieved 2009-12-21.
- Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand: Photograph of the Cathedral showing bell towers.
- Dan Kelly, On Golders Hill: A History of the Thorndon Parish, Daniel Kelly/Parish of the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Sacred Heart and of Saint Mary His Mother, Wellington, 2001.
Categories:- 1901 establishments in New Zealand
- Francis Petre buildings
- NZHPT Category I listings in the Wellington Region
- Roman Catholic cathedrals in New Zealand
- Buildings and structures in Wellington City
- Roman Catholic Church in New Zealand
- Religious buildings completed in 1901
- 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings
- 1901 in New Zealand
- Basilica churches in Oceania
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