By CatholicVote | Created at 2024-12-18 00:01:18 | Updated at 2024-12-18 18:16:07
18 hours ago
CV NEWS FEED // The Diocese of Madison, Wisconsin, is set to complete a major renovation project in 2025 that will result in a new cathedral. A remodeled older church will replace the Diocese’s first cathedral after an act of arson destroyed it nearly 20 years ago.
On Dec. 13, the Diocese of Madison shared that earlier this year, the Vatican gave approval for St. Bernard Catholic Church to be the Diocese’s new Cathedral. St. Bernard, a historic church, is outside downtown Madison. The Diocese is working to transform it into a cathedral especially through renovations and additions.
“Madison will once again have a cathedral,” Bishop Donald J. Hying said. “Standing as a beacon in the heart of the city, the Cathedral of St. Bernard of Clairvaux will be a place of faith, hope, love, and service for generations to come.”
Twenty years ago, an act of arson destroyed the original cathedral, St. Raphael. Bishop Hying said if the diocese had started from the ground up, it would cost at least $80 million to build a new Cathedral, if the Diocese “wanted to make it as beautiful as our current renovation project.”
St. Bernard, which was built in the early 1900s, is receiving new roof tiles and flooring – something that hasn’t been done in 100 years, according to the Diocese. The project also includes installing murals and artwork, unique statues and woodwork, and a 1916 Skinner organ to the church, among other additions.
In a direct tie to the first Cathedral, St. Bernard is set to receive the bells from St. Raphael, giving the new bell tower a historic element.
These efforts in the Diocese of Madison mirror the renovations that have been ongoing in Paris, France, since a fire destroyed much of Notre-Dame Cathedral in 2019. Though the restoration project is not fully complete, Notre-Dame reopened its doors once again in a beautiful ceremony on Dec. 7.
