The Metropolitan Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, also known as St Mary's Metropolitan Cathedral, is a

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 ...

church in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, Scotland. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh and the

mother church Mother church or matrice is a term depicting the Christian Church as a mother in her functions of nourishing and protecting the believer. It may also refer to the primary church of a Christian denomination or diocese, i.e. a cathedral church, or ...

of Scots Catholicism. The cathedral

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

is located at the East End of

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in the city center.

History

The Chapel of St Mary's was opened in 1814 and was originally designed by James Gillespie Graham. It was built in replacement of the Chapel of St Andrew the Apostle on Blackfriars Wynd (which had been tolerated despite Scotland not recognising the Catholic faith). The construction of a purpose-built church recognised a broad acceptance of the faith by 1814. The church was considerably embellished over the years, and in 1878 (upon the restoration of the Scottish hierarchy), it became 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 new Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh. It was renamed the Metropolitan Cathedral on 5 July 1886, with all the rights and privileges appertaining to such a church. It contains the National Shrine of Saint Andrew.

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visited St Mary's in May 1982, as part of his pastoral visit to Scotland.

Architecture

The building was designed in 1813–1814 in the neo-perpendicular style by James Gillespie Graham, with additional designs by

Augustus Pugin Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 1812 – 14 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival architecture ...

. In 1892, a fire at the neighbouring Theatre Royal required changes to the cathedral. Arches were made in the side walls and aisles were added on both sides, designed by John Biggar. The sanctuary was extended backwards by three bays of arches. The war memorial and high altar were added in 1921, designed by

Reginald Fairlie Reginald Francis Joseph Fairlie LLD (7 March 1883 – 27 October 1952) was a Scottish architect. He served as a commissioner of RCAHMS and on the Ancient Monuments Board for Scotland. Life see Born at Kincaple, Fife, he was the son of J. Ogi ...

. A

baldachino A baldachin, or baldaquin (from ), is a canopy of state typically placed over an altar or throne. It had its beginnings as a cloth canopy, but in other cases it is a sturdy, permanent architectural feature, particularly over high altars in c ...

was added in 1927. In 1932, the height of the roof was increased by

Reid and Forbes Reid and Forbes was a firm of Scottish architects specialising in school buildings in central and southern Scotland from 1920 to 1964. They had a very distinctive style and many of their buildings are now listed buildings. History The firm was a ...

. In the 1970s, the front of the cathedral was opened up due to the demolition of tenement buildings. The porch and baptistery were replaced by a larger porch, designed by T. Harley Haddow, and the sanctuary was remodelled to meet the requirements of the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

Music

The ''Schola Cantorum'' has eight singers and sings a wide range of sacred music including

plainchant Plainsong or plainchant (calque from the French ; ) is a body of chants used in the liturgies of the Western Church. When referring to the term plainsong, it is those sacred pieces that are composed in Latin text. Plainsong was the exclusive for ...

, renaissance polyphony and modern compositions. In addition, there is a mixed-ability cathedral choir. A new organ was installed in 2008, built by Matthew Copley and having 4,000 pipes. The Director of Music is Michael Ferguson, who also teaches at the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

and is a composer. Concerts and recitals were held in the cathedral during the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

from 2009 to 2016.

Current clergy

*Fr Jeremy Milne, VG (administrator),https://www.stmaryscathedral.co.uk/pastoral Fr Robert Taylor * Fr Tadeusz Puton SAC (non-resident), Chaplain of the Polish Mission

Parish organisation

From 2017 the many parishes in Edinburgh have been organised into clusters to better coordinate their resources. St Mary's Cathedral is one of four parishes in Cluster 1 along with St Ninian and Triduana, St Patrick and St Albert.

Cafe Camino

The cathedral formerly operated a café in an adjoining building. It was used as a venue as part of the Free Fringe at the

Administrators

* Mgr. William Smith (1878–85) * Canon James Donlevy (1885–1903) * Mgr. Alexander Stuart (1903–23) * Canon Patrick McGettigan (1923–47) * Mgr. John Breen (1947–56) * Mgr. Patrick Quille (1956–82) * Mgr. Patrick J. Grady (1982–?) * Mgr. David Gemmell (?–2008) * Mgr. Michael B. Regan (?–2015) * Mgr. Patrick Burke (2015–24) * Mgr. Jeremy Milne (2024–present)

References

External links

*
St Mary's Cathedral former organist's website

Sacred ScotlandCafe Camino

Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS)

The Scottish Catholic Archives

Scottish Catholic Historical Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mary, Edinburgh, Saint Listed churches in Edinburgh Roman Catholic cathedrals in Scotland Roman Catholic national shrines Roman Catholic churches in Edinburgh Category B listed buildings in Edinburgh Listed cathedrals in Scotland James Gillespie Graham buildings Roman Catholic churches completed in 1814 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom Roman Catholic shrines in the United Kingdom Religious organizations established in 1814