Bishop's Dinner honors Msgr. M. Francis Mannion, welcomes Bishop William K. Weigand

Friday, Oct. 09, 2015

SALT LAKE CITY — Monsignor M. Francis Mannion, pastor emeritus of Saint Vincent de Paul Parish and former pastor of the Cathedral of the Madeleine, was honored at the  Bishop’s Dinner Oct. 1. 

The annual event is a benefit for The Cathedral of the Madeleine, “the mother church, the home of all Catholics in Utah,” said Father Martin Diaz, Cathedral of the Madeleine pastor. “The cathedral is home to the Cathedral Choir School, the Good Samaritan Program, the Madeleine Arts Festival and the Eccles Organ Festival.”

Msgr. Mannion helped found the co-educational choir school and the Good Samaritan program that gives an average of 300 sandwiches a day to those in need; he also established the Madeleine Festival of the Arts and Humanities and the Eccles International Organ Festival. 

As cathedral rector from 1986 to 2000, Msgr. Mannion oversaw a $12.5 million renovation and restoration of the cathedral and its facilities; he was moderator of the fundraising campaign, served as project manager and acted as liaison between the architects, whose offices were in New York, and the contractor. 

The Most Rev. William K. Weigand, seventh Bishop of Salt Lake City and Bishop Emeritus of Sacramento, was the guest speaker at the dinner. With the help of Msgr. Mannion and several community leaders, Bishop Weigand began the capital campaign for the restoration of the interior of the cathedral, which took place between 1991 and 1993.

The renovation was needed because over the years, grime had built up on the cathedral murals and windows. In addition, the organ needed to be replaced and the ceiling repaired. 

The renewal was such a large and costly project that some people feared it, Bishop Weigand said in a video presented during the dinner. 

“Msgr. Mannion was very dedicated to this vision of the cathedral and he put hours and hours of work into the project,” said Gregory Glenn, the cathedral’s director of liturgy and music, on the video. “At the same time, Msgr. Mannion helped people in need; on many occasions, I saw him reach out and go in an extraordinary fashion to bring comfort, help and solutions to problems.” 

The Cathedral of the Madeleine reopened for the New Year’s Eve Mass of 1992. 

“It was a very emotional and wonderful moment to be back home,” Glenn said. 

The 1993 New Year’s Day Mass “was the first time I came to tears over the renovation; I came out of my chair and I couldn’t speak because I realized now the project really was finished,” Msgr. Mannion said on the video. “It was a renovation of the future; [the cathedral] is a place of worship and prayer, a place of offering the arts, and a place to which the poor and the hungry can come.” 

These days, when Msgr. Mannion gives tours of the cathedral, he speaks of the “recent” renovation and receives looks of wonder from the youth, he said, because the project began 28 years ago, and was five years in planning and three years in execution.

“While I am receiving the credit, the ultimate credit goes to Bishop Weigand because without his leadership, it would not have happened,” Msgr. Mannion said during the dinner. “I gathered around the best people, world-class architects and artisans and involved the wider community. The theme behind that was ‘A Cathedral for All People;’ that derived from the very history of cathedrals; without the Good Samaritan Program, the cathedral would be a museum of art.” 

A cathedral is meant for poor people “maybe more than those who are not poor because they need beautiful places to go … to sit and pray; they don’t have perhaps many other beautiful things in their lives,” Bishop Weigand said during his presentation at the dinner. “A cathedral connects us with God, the heavenly life that we are destined for; at the same time its beauty mirrors back to us who we are as the local church.”

The renovation of the cathedral actually began 35 years ago, Bishop Weigand said. “When I came to this diocese in 1980, I was given a number of priorities and among them was the restoration of the cathedral; the exterior had been done,” he said.

Between 1980 and 1988, “we were building the community of faithful,” Bishop Weigand said. “We were developing a needs assessment, pastoral plan priorities, the mechanisms of the modern Church, the diocesan pastoral council, the Catholic Foundation and so many others to encourage people to speak up and be active and its ongoing.”

In 1991 Bishop Weigand requested that Pope John Paul II name Fr. Mannion domestic proper monsignor to recognize him for his work in the cathedrals’ restoration. 

“He did it well; he did it tirelessly,” Bishop Weigand said.