Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Raleigh

Cathedral of the Sacred Heart is the cathedral of the Catholic Diocese of Raleigh, located in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina.

History

Sacred Heart Cathedral was not completed until 1924, but parish life can be traced back to 1821. That was the year that the Right Reverend John England, Bishop of Charleston, traveled to Raleigh to meet with the small group of Catholics in the area. Following this meeting, he authorized various priests to visit Raleigh until 1839. Catholic families were scattered all over the state in the late 1800’s. In response to a great demand for books on religious instruction, James Cardinal Gibbons, the Archbishop of Baltimore, wrote Faith of Our Fathers. Raleigh’s first Catholic church was built on South Wilmington Street.

In 1879, Father James White purchased the present site of the church property, occupied by the stately home of the Bryan Grimes family. The Grimes family had many connections to other prominent Raleigh names, among them the Mordecai, the Williams, and the Raney families. Through the years, the Grimes descendants have continued to have ties to Sacred Heart Cathedral, and some are active parishioners today. Father White added a chapel to the mansion so that it could be used as a church and rectory.

In 1899, Father Thomas Griffin was appointed the pastor of Sacred Heart Church, a position which he held for 31 years. It was under his leadership that the cathedral, school, and rectory were built. Father Griffin, founder of the Cathedral, is buried on the McDowell Street side of the church. The cornerstone of the Cathedral was laid in 1922, and the church was completed in August 1924. Two months later, the Diocese of Raleigh was formed, and Sacred Heart Church took on the status of a cathedral. The Right Reverend William J. Hafey, Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, was ordained the first bishop of the Diocese of Raleigh on December 5, 1925.In 1937, Bishop Eugene J. McGuinness, from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, became the second Bishop of Raleigh. The first renovation to SHC was done under Bishop McGuiness in 1939, when the terrazzo floor and stained glass windows we enjoy today were installed.

The third Bishop of Raleigh to be ordained in 1945 was Bishop Vincent S. Waters, the former Chancellor of the Diocese of Richmond. It was during his tenure that the North Carolina Catholic, the state’s Catholic newspaper, was founded in 1946. The Auxiliary Bishop of Baltimore, the Most Reverend F. Joseph Gossman, was appointed the fourth Bishop of the Diocese of Raleigh in 1975. Most Rev. Michael F. Burbidge, Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia, was installed as the fifth Bishop of Raleigh in August 2006.

Until 1924 North Carolina was the only state in the nation without its own diocese. As of today Sacred Heart Cathedral in Raleigh is the smallest Catholic cathedral in the U.S.