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The Cathedral of Saint Andrew is a
St. Andrew's history traces its beginning to the founding of St. Mary's Church by the Rev.
Official Cathedral SiteDiocese of Grand Rapids Official Site
{{Authority control Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids Religious organizations established in 1833 1833 establishments in Michigan Territory Roman Catholic churches completed in 1876 Andrew Grand Rapids Roman Catholic churches in Grand Rapids, Michigan Churches in Grand Rapids, Michigan Gothic Revival church buildings in Michigan 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States
Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
cathedral
A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...
located in Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...
, United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. It is the seat of the Diocese of Grand Rapids
The Diocese of Grand Rapids () is a Latin Church diocese of the Roman Catholic Church, Catholic Church in West Michigan, western Michigan in the United States. It comprises 80 parishes in 11 counties. It is a suffragan see to the Archdiocese of De ...
.
History
St. Andrew's history traces its beginning to the founding of St. Mary's Church by the Rev. Frederic Baraga
Irenaeus Frederic Baraga (June 29, 1797 – January 19, 1868; ) was a Slovenian Catholic missionary to the United States, grammarian and author of Christian poetry and hymns in Native American languages. He was the first Bishop of Sault ...
. He built a small church, rectory
A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of a given religion, serving as both a home and a base for the occupant's ministry. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, p ...
and school on the west bank of the Grand River and the people who attended the church were Native Americans. The Rev. Andreas Viszoczky was named the parish's first pastor two years later. After the Native Americans left and the town of Grand Rapids grew, Father Viszoczky built a new church on Monroe Street which he named St. Andrew. The church building was constructed of Grand River limestone and completed in 1850.
Grand Rapids continued to grow as did the parish and a new church was soon needed. In 1875, the present church was started on Sheldon Boulevard and completed a year later. On May 19, 1882 Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...
established the Diocese of Grand Rapids. The diocese's first bishop Henry J. Richter chose Saint Andrew's as his cathedral and was consecrated in it on April 22, 1883.
Lightning struck the cathedral in 1901 and a fire destroyed part of the church building. It was rebuilt and expanded. Some of the wooden beams above the ceiling still show the charred marks from the fire. A television studio was created in the cathedral in the 1950s to televise a weekly Sunday Mass. The cameras have been updated in the 21st century to provide for digital broadcasts. Another expansion of the cathedral facilities occurred from 1961 to 1963. The St. Ambrose Chapel wing was added at that time and Maple Street from Sheldon to Division was closed and a green space created.
A major renovation of the cathedral in 1979-1980 brought the altar forward into the congregation and a vesting and gathering area was created. Another major renovation from 1997 to 2000 created a baptismal pool and refurbished the stained glass windows
Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...
and the Stations of the Cross
The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Via Dolorosa, Way of Sorrows or the , are a series of fourteen images depicting Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and acc ...
. The current pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboard, keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provide ...
was installed in 2002. The front entrance of the cathedral was remodeled in 2009 and the Piazza Secchia was laid. It is patterned after the piazza created by Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspir ...
on the Capitoline Hill
The Capitolium or Capitoline Hill ( ; ; ), between the Roman Forum, Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the Seven Hills of Rome.
The hill was earlier known as ''Mons Saturnius'', dedicated to the god Saturn (mythology), Saturn. The wo ...
in Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
.
See also
* List of churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids *List of Catholic cathedrals in the United States
The Catholic Church in the United States comprises ecclesiastical territories called dioceses, eparchies, and ordinariates led by prelate Ordinary (church officer), ordinaries known as bishops. Each bishop is assigned to a cathedral from which ...
*List of cathedrals in the United States
This is a list of cathedrals in the United States, including both actual cathedrals (seats of bishops in Episcopal polity, episcopal Christian groups, such as Catholic Church, Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy an ...
References
External links
Official Cathedral Site
{{Authority control Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids Religious organizations established in 1833 1833 establishments in Michigan Territory Roman Catholic churches completed in 1876 Andrew Grand Rapids Roman Catholic churches in Grand Rapids, Michigan Churches in Grand Rapids, Michigan Gothic Revival church buildings in Michigan 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States