MADISON — One of the questions to be answered during the diocesan Into the Deep strategic planning process is that of the future of a cathedral building in the diocese.
The Diocese of Madison has not had a cathedral since St. Raphael Cathedral in downtown Madison burned as a result of arson in 2005.
Since that time, most large diocesan events, such as ordinations, Chrism Mass, and other celebrations have taken place at Holy Name Heights in Madison (formerly known as the Bishop O’Connor Center) or parish churches such as St. Maria Goretti Church in Madison or Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Monona.
Answering the question
In a recent video as part of his “A Moment with the Bishop” series, Bishop Donald J. Hying of Madison began to discuss the future of a cathedral building.
“One of my goals for the Into the Deep process is really that we resolve the cathedral question,” he said.
Bishop Hying then shared three options for addressing that issue.
One would be to build a brand new cathedral building in downtown Madison where the former St. Raphael Cathedral once stood on W. Main St.
That land, still in the possession of the diocese, currently has a Stations of the Cross walk on it.
For this option, Bishop Hying said, “We’d be looking probably minimally at 40 to 50 million dollars to build a brand new cathedral downtown. I would say we are not going to do that. It would be a lot of money to build a new building when in fact we struggle to utilize the buildings that we have.”
He added, “We need to think through what we will do with that precious property that is downtown [and] what will be our future direction as far as its utilization.”
A second option would be the leave things as they are and continue to use other facilities for diocesan celebrations and events.
This option, Bishop Hying said is “out for me”.
He added that “I really want us to resolve the cathedral question so that we can say with great pride that like any other diocese we have a cathedral here in the Diocese of Madison.”
The third option that he explained was to elevate and use an existing parish church as the cathedral.
Being the preferred option, Bishop Hying said, “In a few weeks, I will lay out the proposal of where that would be, what parish it would be, and invite feedback on the proposal itself.”
No specific date was announced when this proposal will be released.
A similar action happened in 1946 when the Diocese of Madison was created.
The parish church of St. Raphael Parish in downtown Madison was elevated to cathedral status — that church building had been in use since 1862 on land originally donated by Wisconsin Territorial Governor James D. Doty.
A ‘special place’
Bishop Hying shared that “The cathedral is a special place. It’s usually where ordinations are held. The Chrism Mass is held [there] where all the oils are blessed each year during Holy Week. It’s a place for the whole diocese to gather and find their unity in Christ gathered around the bishop, the presbyterate, the Religious, the consecrated, the deacons, and the laity of the Church”.
He added, “At a cathedral Mass, you see the Church on full display, worshiping God”.
Part of Into the Deep
In his video, Bishop Hying closed with “As we move forward with Into the Deep, my hopeful thought is that by next year, we will have a named cathedral and that that will be a place for us to gather as the diocese and to worship God as the body of Christ.”
Into the Deep is a multi-year, comprehensive strategic planning process in the Diocese of Madison.
Its purpose is to realign resources — physical, financial, human, etc. — so that the diocese might move its parishes and other Catholic institutions from “maintenance to mission,” in order to share the life-changing good news of Jesus Christ more effectively in our increasingly secular culture.
The diocese said, “Our hope is that by coming together and collaborating in new ways we will more effectively and fruitfully: 1) follow Jesus; 2) reclaim Sunday; 3) evangelize others; 4) engage youth; 5) equip leaders; and 6) serve neighbors both now and well into the future.”
For more information on Into the Deep, go to intothedeepmadison.org