St. Andrew's Cathedral is the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

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 ...

for the

Diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

of Victoria in

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, Canada. Built in the

High Victorian Gothic High Victorian Gothic was an eclectic architectural style and movement during the mid-late 19th century. It is seen by architectural historians as either a sub-style of the broader Gothic Revival style, or a separate style in its own right. Prom ...

style, St. Andrew's was Victoria's third cathedral to be built.

History

The cathedral is the third building to be used by the parish. The first building was used from 1858 to 1884 (presently used as the Chapel of St. Ann's Academy on Humboldt Street). The second building was used from 1884 to 1892 (situated behind the current building now occupied by the St. Andrew's Square office building), after which the parish moved into the present cathedral. Work on the new cathedral began in 1890. At 8:00 a.m. on October 30, 1892, Bishop Jean-Nicolas Lemmens blessed the building before celebrating a Pontifical High Mass at 10:00 a.m. The cathedral has been a

National Historic Site of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada () are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC), as being of national historic significance. Parks C ...

since 1990.

Design

The present cathedral was designed by architects Maurice Perrault and Albert Mesnard. The total cost of the building was C$81,052. Based on the plans for a church built in

Vaudreuil-Dorion Vaudreuil-Dorion () is a suburb of Greater Montreal, in the Montérégie region of southwestern Quebec, Canada. The result of the merger of two towns, Vaudreuil and Dorion, it is located in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges Regional County Municipality. ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Perrault and Mesnard borrowed much from the

medieval architecture Medieval architecture was the architecture, art and science of designing and constructing buildings in the Middle Ages. The major styles of the period included pre-Romanesque, Romanesque architecture, Romanesque, and Gothic architecture, Gothic. In ...

of European churches. The double

asymmetrical Asymmetry is the absence of, or a violation of, symmetry (the property of an object being invariant to a transformation, such as reflection). Symmetry is an important property of both physical and abstract systems and it may be displayed in pre ...

towers are typical of Quebec churches and a characteristic of the High Victorian Gothic style. This was an attempt to follow the "unfinished" look that made fourteenth and fifteenth century churches popular. The main tower boasts a spire that was designed to hold a clock and a set of bells. The nave is , with a rose window. The Institute for Stained Glass in Canada has documented the stained glass at St Andrew's Catholic Cathedral. The cathedral houses 21 large Portland-style stained glass windows and two large rose windows with a smaller one above the gallery. An altar was commissioned for use on the twenty-fifth anniversary of Bishop Remi Joseph De Roo's episcopal ordination. Carved by Charles W. Elliott, the first Native American to graduate from St. Louis College, the altar consists of two bentwood boxes. The boxes can be rotated to show four separate designs for the different

liturgical Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...

seasons. The top of the altar or is carved from yellow cedar ( Nootka Cypress) and weighs approximately . The cathedral also displays a carved

lectern A lectern is a standing reading desk with a slanted top, on which documents or books are placed as support for reading aloud, as in a scripture reading, lecture, or sermon. A lectern is usually attached to a stand or affixed to some other form of ...

by artist Roy Henry Vickers. It depicts a black and red image of

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

, representing the crucified Christ and the risen Christ.

Crypt

The cathedral houses a

crypt A crypt (from Greek κρύπτη (kryptē) ''wikt:crypta#Latin, crypta'' "Burial vault (tomb), vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, Sarcophagus, sarcophagi, or Relic, religiou ...

, where three of Victoria's former Bishops are interred: * Bishop Modeste Demers, the first Bishop of Victoria. *

Charles John Seghers Charles John Seghers (also written as ''Charles-Jean Seghers''; 26 December 1839 – 28 November 1886) was a Belgian clergyman and missionary bishop. He is considered to be the founder of the Alaska Mission. Biography Early years and formation ...

, the second and fourth Bishop, murdered in

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

. * Rt. Rev. John J. Jonckau, a former Vicar General of the Diocese of Victoria who was named as Bishop but died before being

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

Notes

References

External links