The Sacred Heart Cathedral is a

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 ...

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

, United States. The renovated cathedral is the Mother Church of the

Diocese of Rochester The Diocese of Rochester is a Church of England diocese in the English county of Kent and the Province of Canterbury. The cathedral church of the diocese is Rochester Cathedral in the former city of Rochester. The bishop's Latin episcopal si ...

and seat of the diocesan

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

, as well as home to a parish community. The parish is currently known as the Cathedral Community at The Sacred Heart Cathedral.

History

In 1823, St. Patrick's was the first Catholic parish established in Rochester. Its third church building was under construction when the Diocese of Rochester was founded in 1868, and it became the diocesan cathedral. The

Eastman Kodak Company The Eastman Kodak Company, referred to simply as Kodak (), is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in film photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorporated i ...

built their

headquarters Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...

adjacent to the cathedral property in 1914. Over the intervening years, the company expanded its footprint in the area and other parishes were established in the city. With the approval of the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

, the diocese sold St. Patrick's Cathedral to Eastman Kodak in 1937 and it was dismantled that same year. The parish remained in existence until 1979. In the meantime, Sacred Heart parish was founded in 1911. The cornerstone for the present church was laid in 1925. Designed by Chicago architect Charles H. Prindeville, of the firm Egan & Prindeville, it was completed in 1927. Sacred Heart was named the

pro-cathedral A pro-cathedral or procathedral is a parish Church (building), church that temporarily serves as the cathedral or co-cathedral of a diocese, or a church that has the same function in a Catholic missionary jurisdiction (such as an apostolic prefect ...

of the diocese when St. Patrick's was sold and became a full cathedral in 1952.

2005 Renovation

The diocese completed an extensive and controversial eighteen-month renovation of the cathedral in January 2005 at a cost of $11 million. Fr. Richard S. Vosko, a liturgical design consultant and priest of the Diocese of Albany, supervised the renovation. Apart from structural repairs and improvements, the renovation comprised moving the altar from the front of the church to the center in order to foster a feeling of participation, removing a large statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus hung on the wall in the sanctuary and replacing it with a new organ (the choir will now stand in the former altar space; fully visible), placing a new immersion baptismal font in the main aisle of the church so the community can share in baptisms, removing the pews and replacing them with padded chairs to allow flexible seating for events and moving the tabernacle out of the sanctuary to a side chapel. The renovation was controversial and attempts by traditional parishioners to stop the renovations were not successful. Protestors were upset with the "radical" re-configuration deemed a "

wreckovation ''Wreckovation'' is a portmanteau disparagement term used since at least 2002 to describe the style of renovations which some Catholic cathedrals, churches, and oratories have undergone since the Second Vatican Council. Background The Second Vati ...

", the unwarranted spending of substantial monies when the diocese is closing churches and schools, and the fact that the church would likely become a pilgrimage site if former Rochester bishop

Fulton Sheen Fulton John Sheen (born Peter John Sheen; May 8, 1895 – December 9, 1979) was an Catholic Church in the United States, American Catholic prelate who served as Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester, Bishop of Rochester from 1966 to 1969. He was ...

is canonized believing that the church should remain in the condition when he served.

Organ

The organ is Opus 26 of

Paul Fritts Paul Fritts is an American organ builder based in Tacoma, Washington, who, following historical models, has created over thirty mechanical action instruments that have contributed to the revival of historically informed organ music. The Murdy or ...

& Company, a three-manual, 53-rank instrument with mechanical key action.

References

External links

Official Cathedral SiteDiocese of Rochester Official Site
{{Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester, state=collapsed Christian organizations established in 1911 Roman Catholic churches completed in 1927 Roman Catholic cathedrals in New York (state) Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester Roman Catholic churches in Rochester, New York 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States

History

2005 Renovation

Organ

See also

References

External links