The Cathedral of the Madeleine is a Roman Catholic church in Salt Lake City, Utah

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It was completed in 1909, and currently serves as the cathedral

Cathedral

A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...

, or mother church

Mother Church

In Christianity, the term mother church or Mother Church may have one of the following meanings:# The first mission church in an area, or a pioneer cathedral# A basilica or cathedral# The main chapel of a province of a religious order...

, of the Diocese of Salt Lake City

Roman Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City, officially in Latin Dioecesis Civitatis Lacus Salsi, is a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. It comprises the entire state of Utah. Also known as the Utah Catholic Church or the See of Salt Lake City, its mother church is the...

. It is the only cathedral in the U.S. under the patronage

Patron saint

A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...

 of St. Mary Magdalene.

The cathedral was built under the direction of Lawrence Scanlan

Lawrence Scanlan

Lawrence Scanlan was an Irish Roman Catholic missionary and the first Bishop of Salt Lake City, Utah .-Early life:...

, first bishop

Bishop

A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

 of Salt Lake. It was designed by architects Carl M. Neuhausen

Carl M. Neuhausen

Carl M. Neuhausen was a noted architect in Utah. He designed a number of buildings that survive and are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.Works include:...

 and Bernard O. Mecklenburg. The outside is predominantly a Neo-Romanesque design, while the inside tends more toward the Neo-Gothic. Construction began in 1900 and was completed in 1909. It was dedicated by Cardinal Archbishop James Gibbons of Baltimore.

The interior of the cathedral was created under the direction of Joseph S. Glass

Joseph Sarsfield Glass

Joseph Sarsfield Glass, C.M. was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Salt Lake from 1915 until his death in 1926....

, the second bishop of Salt Lake. Bishop Glass enlisted John Theodore Comes, one of the preeminent architects in the country, to decorate the interior of the cathedral. His plans for the interior were largely based upon the Spanish Gothic style. The colorful murals and polychrome were added at this time, as were the ornate shrines.

In the 1970s, the exterior of the building was restored, and between 1991 and 1993, the interior of the Cathedral was renovated and restored under Bishop William K. Weigand. This included not only the removal of dust and dirt and restoration of the interior, but also changes to the liturgical elements of the cathedral to bring them into conformity with certain widespread changes in liturgical practice that developed after the Second Vatican Council

Second Vatican Council

The Second Vatican Council addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed...

. This included building a new altar

Altar

An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...

, moving the bishop's chair, providing a separate chapel for the Blessed Sacrament

Blessed Sacrament

The Blessed Sacrament, or the Body and Blood of Christ, is a devotional name used in the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Catholic Churches, Old Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches, to refer to the Host after it has been consecrated in the sacrament of the Eucharist...

, and adding a more ample baptismal font. Fundraising for both restoration projects was spearheaded by The Salt Lake Tribune's publisher John W. Gallivan

John W. Gallivan

John W. Gallivan is an American newspaper publisher, cable television pioneer, and civic leader. A major figure in the promotion and development of Salt Lake City and Utah's ski industry, he was instrumental in starting the campaign to bring the 2002 Olympic Winter Games to Salt Lake City...

.

Composer Amédée Tremblay

Amédée Tremblay

Pierre-Joseph Amédée Tremblay was a Canadian organist, composer, and music educator. A largely self-taught composer, his output includes several motets, two masses, a few patriotic songs, works for solo organ, and the operetta L'Intransigeant...

notably served as the church's organist from 1920-1925.

External links

• Cathedral of the Madeleine
• Sunday Mass at the Cathedral of the Madeleine
• Image of the Cathedral of the Madeleine from utahcityguide.com
• View a beautiful 360° Panorama of the Cathedral of the Madeleine.