Editor’s note: The Cathedral of the Madeleine will hold their annual Bishop’s Dinner, a fund raiser for the care and maintenance of the Cathedral of the Madeleine and its environs, Sept. 26, 2006, at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City. SALT LAKE CITY — With a history going back 97 years, this year, the Cathedral of the Madeleine will begin planning to celebrate its centenary, to be celebrated in 2009. The current facts of the Cathedral, her vital statistics, are the result of the evolution of an individual church and of the diocese as a whole. Seating 903 people, the Cathedral of the Madeleine has seen well over 1,500 people crowd into its pews and aisles for large ceremonies, the rededication of the Cathedral in 1994, the memorial Masses for Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul II, the installation and/or ordination of the diocese’s bishops, and of course, Christmas midnight Masses and Easter Masses as well. Still, the Cathedral Parish is small in comparison to the role the Cathedral plays in the diocese. To date, the number of registered parish members is 875. Over the last year, 86,820 people have attended religious services at the Cathedral, including ceremonies on Holy Days of Obligation, special services, and Sunday and daily Masses. The Cathedral and her parishioner have welcomed more than 10,450 non-worshipping visitors through her doors over the past year, including those participating in guided and special tours as well as individual and groups of visitors who visit the Cathedral daily. With a full slate of arts and humanities events, organ festival performances, and Madeleine Choir School performances, all free and open to the public, the Cathedral welcomed 18,300 people to non-worship events last year – an average of 29 public performances annually, 19 of them Cathedral-sponsored. Averaged over a year’s time, this equates to a free performance occurring in the Cathedral every 16 days. Cathedral Development Director Lauren Dokos-Griffith said about 30 organizations request the use of the Cathedral of the Madeleine for performances and events, and the Cathedral can only grant permission for use to about 10 of those organizations. Compiling data from event brochures, service leaflets, seating passes, and communion host distributions numbers where available, Dokos-Griffith said the total number of people visiting, worshipping, or attending public events at the Cathedral of the Madeleine annually is about 115,570. When planning for the most recent renovations of the Cathedral of the Madeleine, then-rector Msgr. M. Francis Mannion, Bishop William K. Weigand, and the committees that planned for them chose as a theme: "A Cathedral for All People." It was certainly that then, and continues to be now. Planning for the restoration of the interior of the Cathedral, so extensive that the mother church of the diocese was closed for worship and public use for two years actually began in 1987, Msgr. Mannion said in a Sept. 9 interview with the Intermountain Catholic. "It was a matter of necessity," Msgr. Mannion said. "There had been quite an accumulation of dust and dirt over the years, and some systems were simply falling apart. The Cathedral also needed to be updated to bring it into compliance with modern liturgical norms and the changes called for by the Second Vatican Council." The renovations were planned for and budgeted for with great care, including the massive seismic retrofit, making the Cathedral of the Madeleine less susceptible to earthquakes. Msgr. Mannion said he was aware that not everyone would be happy with all the changes. Still, no decisions were made lightly. The beauty of the finished work is profound. Perhaps the cleaning of the ceiling above the sanctuary is a fitting metaphor for the entire project. It was both painful and remarkable. Inflicted with decades of dirt, dust, and smoke, the ceiling was, for all intents and purposes, black. "We knew there were some gold stars up there, but everything was so dark and dingy, we had no idea what to expect when we got it all cleaned up," Msgr. Mannion said. "We didn’t know, for example, that the sky was so blue. That was a real surprise." The project continued to grow as the restoration took place, expanding the price of the project from the expected $8.2 million to more than $10.2 million. "As the project got under way, we added the renovation of the downstairs area, Scanlan Hall, which for a time would house the Madeleine Choir School, though we didn’t know that then, and the plaza behind the rectory," said Msgr. Mannion. These additions to the project needed to be included in order to make the project complete." Msgr. Mannion said he was gratified by the support of the entire community in bringing about the restoration project. "We had done a study that showed that people in the community were open to both the project and the theme," he said. "People identified the Cathedral of the Madeleine with the heritage of Salt Lake City. They saw it as a place of service to the poor, a place of education, a center for the arts, and a place for ecumenical gatherings. They saw the renovation project as a challenge to be pursued." Msgr. Mannion said he is most proud of the liturgical changes effected by the renovation project. "I’m very proud of the liturgical renovations we made. We enlarged the sanctuary; we added marble floors and a beautiful marble altar, the bishop’s screen and the bishop’s chair. We re-arranged the seating in the transepts. All of these things brought the Cathedral up to date. "The Cathedral of the Madeleine is a symbol of our community of faith, the presence of Catholics in Utah. It serves the whole community. It still needs and deserves broad support. It continues to be a Cathedral for all people." For further information about the 2006 Bishop’s Dinner please call (801) 328-8941
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