Cathedral Parish of Saint Patrick in El Paso

The Cathedral Parish of St Patrick is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of El Paso, Texas. It is located at 1118 N. Mesa St. in the heart of the downtown area. The bishop is His Grace, the Most Reverend Armando Xavier Ochoa(born in Oxnard, CA, 3 April 1943). The cathedral is the mother church for 656,000 Catholics in the diocese(as of the 2004 survey), and also operates one of El Paso's Catholic high schools, Cathedral High School, and St Patrick Elementary School adjacent to the church.

History

The church was designed by Barnett, Hynes and Barnett, an architectural firm from St Louis, MO. It was built in the form of a Byzantine basilica, in the Italian Renaissance style. The ground was broken on 8 April, 1914 and the church and the cornerstone were blessed in a ceremony by Fr Edward Barry on 12 November, 1916. The interior of the cathedral is adorned with Roman columns, elaborate frescoes that depict biblical scenes and the Stations of the Cross are carved in bas-relief on the interior walls. The high altar contains a 2.5M tall statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus with a large canopy over the altar, topped with a golden eagle. The church seats about 800 people for Mass. In alcoves along the walls one will find a picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe and a life-size classical sculpture of St Patrick. The stained-glass windows are colourful examples of the glassmakers art, and depict scenes from the life of Jesus and the Church.

aint Peter of Jesus Maldonado & The Cathedral

Because of the Anticlerical Laws that were a result of the Mexican Constitution of 1857 and the Mexican Revolution, the Catholic Church found herself increasingly suppressed by the governments of dictators Alvaro Obregon and Plutarco Calles. Basic rights such as involvement in politics, freedom of worship and redress of grievances were severely curtailed and even denied to bishops, priests, deacons and laity. Even prior to the end of the revolution, from 1914 to 1918, those aspiring to be priests found it impossible to study in Mexico, and were forced to study abroad, usually in the United States, and mostly in cities close to the U.S.-Mexican border.

El Paso was especially popular because of its closeness to Mexico and Ciudad Juarez. During these years, many seminarians from northern Mexico studied in El Paso, and were ordained to the priesthood here. One such was Pedro(Peter) Maldonado Lucero, who was ordained by Bishop Anthony J Schuler, S.J. in the cathedral on 25 January, 1918. Padre Maldonado returned to his native Chihuahua to minister to the faithful. He was beaten to death in 1937 at the hands of town authorities in Santa Isabel, Chihuahua, for the crime of preaching the Gospel to the people there. He was buried in the Cathedral of Chihuahua, and canonised by Pope John Paul II in 2000. A memorial in the nave of St Patrick commemorates the event of his ordination.

Photo Gallery I - The Windows

Photo Gallery II - Other Points of Interest

External Links and References

*cite web|title = Diocese of El Paso| work=Catholic-Hierarchy|url=http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/delpa.html|accessdate =2007-08-13
*cite web|title = San Pedro de Jesús Maldonado Lucereo| work=Santos y Beatos Latino Americanos|url=http://www.oremosjuntos.com/SantoralLatino/SanPedroMaldonadoLucero.html Site in Spanish.
*cite web|title = Cristeros Became Mexican Martyrs| work=Borderlands:An El Paso Community College Project|url=http://www.epcc.edu/ftp/Homes/monicaw/borderlands/21_cristeros.htm Site in English.

Also included in the "Borderlands" series is additional information concerning El Paso and the cathedral.