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The Cathedral of the Madeleine: The Building and Embellishment of a Historic Place
The Cathedral of the Madeleine: The Building and Embellishment of a Historic Place
BY BERNICE MAHER MOONEY
AGAINST THE HISTORICAL LANDSCAPE AND TRADITIONS of Mormon pioneering, in a remarkable juxtaposition of culture and belief, stands the silhouette of the Cathedral of the Madeleine. In the late nineteenth century Lawrence J. Scanlan, thefirst bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake, virtually drew this Gothic cathedral out of the western wilderness. A strong private man of faith, he constructed the solid durable building against seemingly insurmountable odds and designated to his successors the work of decorating it and, later, restoring and preserving it for posterity.
Only a few priests before him had ventured into the uncertain beginnings of Catholicism in Utah, but these few had laid some basic foundations for the young Father Scanlan to build on. One, Father Edward Kelly, had purchased land on the west side of Second East just north of First South Street on November 6, 1866. It turned out that a flaw in the title was to be legally contested:
On this property arose the parent structure of the present cathedral. The small church served until it was outgrown and replaced by the Cathedral of Saint Mary Magdalene constructed during the period from 1899 to 1909 at its present location on South Temple at B Street.
The "Age of Scanlan" witnessed the vision of a Catholic missionary ripen into reality. The young priest dreamed of a cathedral that would be the mother church of his vast pastorate, providing that same protection, guidance, and inspiration that Old World cathedrals traditionally offered their peoples. It would stand as a tribute to the missionary efforts that preceded his own in the American West, beginning as far back as 1540 when the expedition of the Spanish explorer Coronado made its dramatic thrust into the Southwest and, later, when the Franciscan missionaries Escalante and Dominguez penetrated into the heart of the Great Basin with an eye to mission settlement as well as an overlaid route. Scanlan's cathedral would unite his once-isolated territory with its fellow pioneer missions in Boise, Helena, Cheyenne, and Denver and symbolize its attachment to the Archdiocese of San Francisco and, beyond that, to the Holy See itself in Rome. It would form the Catholic response to the economic, social, and political environment at the turn of the century and to the swell of immigration sweeping through the country. It would immortalize the spirit and the story of the Utah mines and the miners who would help to build it. And it would express the abiding presence of Catholicism in Salt Lake Valley.
For those were the years that absorbed the Catholic Gentile into the Mormon milieu. Both communities had found their way into Salt Lake out of frontier America and both were united in a sense of mutual compassion: Catholics had experienced their own nights of terror when, for example, two of their churches were burned by rampaging mobs in the May 1844 riots in Philadelphia where the American Protective Association had arisen in 1842. Catholic churches had also been burned to the ground in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and New York. The Mormons, meanwhile, carried scarring memories of days when they themselves were a minority among the "ferocious antagonisms of Missouri and Illinois" that culminated in the murder of Joseph Smith at Carthage. Against this background "Bishop Scanlan's preoccupation with the spiritual welfare of his own people afforded pleasant relief in a story of religious antagonism as bitter as any which mars the pages of American history." Under his guidance "Catholics, numerically the largest of the Gentile religious bodies, pursued a quiet course. . . ."
With what could almost be called a financial prowess, abetted by the personal charisma of this humble priest who had been known to go without the necessities of life in the early years, Father Scanlan became responsible not only for the construction of the cathedral but also for all of the Catholic institutions in Utah over a period of forty years. These included Catholic schools, among them Saint Mary's Academy and All Hallows College in Salt Lake. "In after years many of their (Mormon) children attended the school and the Sisters experienced much kindness from the Mormons with whom they came in contact."
There was a reciprocal effort at peaceful association between the two faiths throughout the territory. In 1871 when the first midnight mass was celebrated in the newly dedicated, Saint Mary's on Second East Street the church was packed with a congregation made up principally of non- Catholics "attracted by the novelty of midnight services." In 1879 Apostle Erastus Snow, leader of the Latter-day Saints at St. George, invited Bishop Scanlan to offer high mass in the Mormon tabernacle there. The bishop did so on September 25, 1879. The tabernacle choir had obtained the music for the "Kyrie," "Gloria," and "Credo" and practiced diligently for some weeks. Scanlan was delighted with their beautiful rendition of the Mass in Latin.
Although Scanlan could not approve of the practice of polygamy, he generally confined his remarks about it "to his own pulpit in moral discourses to his own people, and chose rather to cultivate amicable relations with individual Mormons, some of whom recall his friendly spirit toward them during the periods of sharpest antagonism." Upon the occasion of Scanlan's death, an apostle of the Latter-day Saints commented that he considered the bishop "a saintly man who has won the sincere love and respect of every man and woman in the state of Utah by the true godliness of his life." It was in such an atmosphere of good will that Scanlan was able to establish his cathedral throne in Salt Lake City when the diocese was created in 1891. He proceeded to raise up the cathedral without compromise but also without offense.
Carl M. Neuhausen was chosen as the architect. Born in Germany in 1853, he was educated in Stuttgart and shortly thereafter came to America, settling in Minneapolis where he took an active part in the upbuilding of that city. After extensive traveling throughout the United States and Canada to study architecture, he chose to settle in Salt Lake in 1892. He worked on the Saltair Pavilion and gradually became responsible for the design of some of Salt Lake's most beautiful buildings, among them the residences of Sen. Thomas Kearns and mining magnate J. D. Wood, Saint Ann's Orphanage, and the D. F. Walker Block, all of which continue to keep the architectural record of their times.
His original plan for the cathedral called for a structure that "will cover a ground space of 99 x 185' and will be built of gray Kyune stone" with an interior brick lining placed on a granite block foundation. It was to be unadorned by towers; but the plan expanded as the work progressed. The style became Transition, a mixture of Gothic—the facade and much of the interior—and Romanesque—the sides and rear. The blueprints were evidently revamped from time to time to adapt to the ecclesiastical purse. Towers were added as additional funds justified the expense.
Because Bishop Scanlan preferred to delay the progress of the work rather than accumulate debts, the construction went forward at a leisurely pace from 1899 until 1907. The death of Neuhausen in 1907 caused further delay. Bernard O. Mecklenburg was hired to finish the Norman towers and roof. The clerestory planned by Neuhausen was eliminated and all three aisles covered under a single roof, an unusual and distinguishing feature of the structure. By 1909 the cathedral stood substantially as it is today except for the decoration of the interior which was then a plain plaster finish.
At the dedication ceremonies on August 15, 1909, James Cardinal Gibbons, archbishop of Baltimore, suggested to the aging Bishop Scanlan that this great edifice, the culmination of all his efforts, should be his resting place. Thus it is that the Bishop of the Sagebrush lies interred beneath the sanctuary of the cathedral he founded on the frontier.
It fell to his successor to complete and beautify the interior of the cathedral. As Bishop Scanlan's personal energies waned and his funds were depleted, he had simply painted the inside of the vast building in white walls and green pillars. The pioneer people who had produced the structure gradually emerged into a more sophisticated society able, eventually, to consider the interior adornment of their cathedral. Following Scanlan's death Pope Benedict XV appointed as their shepherd Joseph Sarsfield Glass, a member of the Congregation of the Mission known as the Vincentians. European-educated and an urbane art fancier, he proved ideally suited to carry out the task that Bishop Scanlan left to him. His wide experience included work as president of Saint Vincent's College and pastor of Saint Vincent's Church, both in Los Angeles. There his long association with the great American architect John Theodore Comes had begun.
Born in Luxembourg, Comes came to America as a young man and is believed to have studied with Ralph Adams Cram, the president of the American Institute of Architects and the foremost architect in the United States at that time. Cram considered Comes "strikingly able" and principally responsible for the restoration of Gothic architecture to Catholic church building in this country. Comes himself felt that "The church of stone must be a speaking manifestation of the living church and her mysteries ... a sermon full of Truth. . . ." Comes had in common with his friend Joseph Glass that he was first a believer and then a builder.
The two men had collaborated in the design of a new Saint Vincent de Paul Church in Los Angeles after traveling together to Spain to study traditional church architecture at firsthand. The record does not indicate whether Comes attended the episcopal consecration of Bishop Glass on the morning of August 24, 1915; but it can be assumed that two weeks later when the new bishop was installed in Salt Lake as pastor and rector of the Cathedral of Saint Mary Magdalene both were already pondering its interior adornment.
Although Bishop Glass undertook a variety of projects throughout his diocese, the work to which his own natural gifts and inclination seemed constantly to beckon him remained the renovation of the cathedral. In the midst of other duties he contacted John Comes, setting about the task and bringing to it both their individual and joint expertise. They entered into a contract by which Comes agreed to "provide all sketches, plans, specifications and details for the furnishings and all other improvements in and around the St. Mary Magdalene Cathedral, Salt Lake City, which includes also the acoustical treatment and wall decorations." Glass agreed to pay the architect 4.5 percent of the total cost of the project, except for those items requiring a "great amount of full size details and study" which the bishop agreed to pay a 15 percent commission on. They were:
Although in theory Comes w 7 as in charge of the overall project he worked closely with Glass who in practice sometimes acted as contractor and throughout the work made specific recommendations for the various phases.
The problem of acoustics was tackled early on. A representative of the H. W. Johns-Manville Company in Pittsburgh said that acoustically the cathedral was
Wallace C. Sabine, a consultant whose advice Comes sought and whose recommendations were built on his work in some fifty churches throughout the country, confirmed that "It is necessary to treat the ceiling surfaces in a church in which not merely the nave but the side aisles as well are sixty-four feet in height. . . ," 24 In 1978 specialists consulted during restorative work on the cathedral confirmed the findings of these early acoustical engineers.
The ongoing resolution of these basic problems paved the way for the artistic phase of the renovation. Bishop Scanlan had built well and the exterior structure required little alteration except for the approach to the main entrance, elevated above street level, in the form of a double flight of steps that was changed by Comes to its present form. At the entrance to the steps, on the right side below the light fixture, was installed a plaque bearing Bishop Glass's coat of arms with its motto, "Fortitude and Peace." Up a few steps, in the center of the first landing, Glass erected a bronze tablet in memory of Bishop Scanlan, an official epitaph to an indestructible missionary spirit.
Farther up the steps, over the cathedral's main portal, was the unfinished tympanum. 26 For its completion, John Comes chose the noted sculptor Francis Aretz of Pittsburgh with whom he had previously worked and who was becoming known as one of the most gifted of his profession in the United States. The completed tympanum, a masterful creation in concrete, was the result of seven years of quiet work by Aretz in an old gray building, almost a shack, that served as the sculptor's studio. According to a newspaper report,
On the panels over the door-arch Aretz carved symbols of the seven sacraments on the east side and of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit on the west side. He presented Christ on the center portal as high priest, clothed in sacerdotal garments and flanked by two angels. The Twelve Apostles, six standing and six kneeling, each holding his traditional symbol, occupy the field on either side of Our Lord. The four great western doctors, Augustine, Gregory, Ambrose, and Jerome, complete the group. This entourage in whose spiritual company one enters the cathedral forms a "bridge of ages between us and our ancestors."
The only other major modification of the original cathedral building is visible from the outside at the rear of the structure where the five original stained-glass windows in the sanctuary were removed and the openings covered. These windows were among those executed by F. X. Zettler of the House of Littler, Royal Bavarian Institute in Munich, Germany, from where it is believed they were shipped piecemeal to the cathedral for assembly in 1906. They depicted the sorrowful mysteries of the rosary and had been designed in unison with the five joyful mysteries on the west side of the cathedral and those representing the glorious mysteries on the east side, all "excellent examples of artistic realism" and "among the best of their particular school in the United States."
George W. Softer of Pittsburgh contracted to cast two new sanctuary windows, one for the east and one for the west side, bearing the symbols of the Twelve Apostles. Although inconspicuous because of their position, these windows are of exquisite detail and outstanding workmanship.
The Rambusch Decorating Company of New York submitted specifications that detailed each phase of the decorative work. Four coats of the best oil paint were to be used. The ceiling of the sanctuary was to be painted deep blue with gold stars and an ornamental design in the center. Ribs, columns, and caps were to be ornamented. The three rear walls were to have large mural paintings: "subject of the crucifixion, saints, prophets and angels, as approved. All halos, etc. in relief and gold." Similar, meticulously outlined instructions followed for the decoration, painting, and murals of the side chapels, ceilings, and walls; soffits of the arches; window jambs, face of gallery rail, vestibule, baptistry, and sacristies. Harold William Rambusch complained to Comes that his bid of $9,000 turned out to be "too small" when he realized that, because labor organizations in Salt Lake City commanded wages for their painters and decorators that were 25 percent higher than those paid in the East, he would be compelled to pay his New York men (about five in number) this higher wage as well as board, while they carried out the work in the cathedral. Rambusch added, "but as you assure us that more money cannot be spent we shall do our utmost to make the work a success anyway.
The altars now became a major concern. The work of their planning culminated in a note of April 18, 1917, from Comes to Bishop Glass indicating the contribution of both:
Decker Little, a cathedral parishioner who was then a boy of seventeen, recalls helping knock out the old altars and refilling with concrete where necessary. "The new altars were brought in all made," he remembers. "We assembled them, did the heavy work on steps and cement, and put in the three altars."
Canon law required that a relic be imbedded in the altar stone. Tiny pieces of the bone of Saints Gratus and Fenusta are the relics Bishop Glass placed in the high altar. He also obtained in Rome a sliver of the wood of the true cross found about A.D. 318 by Saint Helen, the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine. Housed in an ornate reliquary, this relic is brought out each year for public veneration on the Feast of the Holy Cross, September 14, and on Good Friday.
Meanwhile, Bishop Glass had met Felix B. Lieftuchter of New York City and observed his work in Saint Agnes Church, Cleveland, Ohio, when the bishop participated in dedication ceremonies there. In September 1916 Lieftuchter agreed, through John Comes, to paint murals that would be completed by March 21, 1917. However, Comes reported to Glass the following April that "Lieftuchter says it's taking a great deal more time than he figured on, but I think he will stick and do a good job."
The young artist had signed the contract with Comes before he even saw the cathedral. Though Comes's specifications dictated the subjects of the murals, Lieftuchter exercised artistic freedom in selecting the saints portrayed. He chose saints from the New Testament for the left side, and from the Old Testament for the right side, of the main altar and turned them in reverent adoration toward the central figure of Christ crucified upon a cross suspended from the outstretched arms of the Eternal Father. Below these panels and just above the oak woodwork of the sanctuary are" printed in Gothic letters quotations from the Old and New Testaments. In the transept, on the large wall space over the left side altar, Lieftuchter brought to life the scene of Mary Magdalene, titular saint of the cathedral, anointing the feet of Christ and, over the right side altar, the risen Christ appearing to the Magdalene at the tomb. Above each panel is the conventional figure of an angel blowing a trumpet. Eight decorative figures forming a circular design fill the spandrels over the arches in the nave. Lieftuchter reminisced:
His theme has been described as the "Apotheosis of the Crucifixion," the story of the coming of Christ into the world and his triumphant return to the Father, portrayed throughout the cathedral in the timeless language of art and symbolism. Shocks of grain and grapes, for example, represent the Eucharist and the dove depicts the Holy Spirit. The pelican, pictured above the main altar, tearing open her breast to feed her young with her own lifeblood, alludes to the Atonement of Christ upon the cross.
The imagery of the four evangelists featured in gold at the base of the four arches reaching to the height of the sanctuary shows Mark as a winged lion cub licked into wakefulness by its father, Luke a winged ox signifying sacrificial death, John a winged eagle soaring upward, and Matthew a winged man because his Gospel dwells more on the human side of Christ than do the other Gospels. Such figures preserve age-old symbolism within the cathedral.
Another artist whose services Bishop Glass attracted to the cathedral was Robert S. Chase of Boston who contracted to provide
The statuary in the cathedral is the work of several of America's foremost ecclesiastical sculptors, including Henry Schmitt of Buffalo, New York, who produced three carved statues in linden wood of Saint Anthony of Padua, Saint Vincent de Paul (both three feet high and standing on the altars of the shrines at the rear of the church), and Our Lady of Lourdes (five feet high, gracing the altar of Our Mother of Perpetual Help in the west transept).
Other sculptors whose names are not known also worked in the cathedral. A father and son pair, believed not to be of the Schmitt family mentioned above, left an ingenious signature to their work. The story is told that when they completed their carvings there was no place to sign their names. The father then gave his son a piece of wood and took one also in his own hands. Each carved the head and face of the other to identify their work. To this day these two carvings confront each other at two places atop the sedilia in the sanctuary.
Isaac Kirchmayer, among the ablest American woodcarvers of the early twentieth century, carved the statues and reredos on the altars.
(In the case of Blessed Sacrament Church in Rochester, New York, William F. Ross and Company was responsible for the design of the reredos and altar statues, and the actual carving was done by Kirchmayer.) His artistic skill was indisputable. Ralph Adams Cram in his book, Church Building had special praise for the sculptor he considered "the best in the United States." Cram's own education and genius gave him a sensitive insight into the creative spirit of Kirchmayer whom he described as "that amazing craftsman out of the fifteenth century, living and thinking and working in the twentieth century." Cram and John Comes had similar taste and both had employed Kirchmayer at various times. Bishop Glass's association with the artist brought attention to Salt Lake City from the East: "Kirchmayer says he has your statue on exhibition at St. Dunstan's Guild showroom in Boston . . ,," Comes informed the bishop on August 18, 1917.
At the same time, Comes advised the bishop that the monstrance, a work of art in itself, was "now on exhibition in Philadelphia." Synchronizing the various phases of decoration required frequent consultation. On April 18, 1917, Comes asked the bishop to
Tabernacle doors and candlesticks had been ordered and sketches prepared for the processional cross and missal stand. Comes sought to maintain harmony between the building and all its furnishings and have both comply with the liturgical laws of the church.
William F. Ross and Company contracted on January 2, 1917, to provide installation of furniture including the altars, shrines in the transepts and rear of the church, confessionals, the bishop's throne (including brocade velvet), a sedilia, credence table and pulpit, choir stalls, two prayer benches, the communion rail, dado in the sanctuary, and, as noted above, fourteen frames for the stations of the cross. This firm paneled the lower portion of the church in dark oak entirely around the interior, appropriately setting off the brilliant decorations above.
The episcopal throne was placed at the left of the sanctuary on a raised platform. The coat of arms of the incumbent bishop decorates the canopy above. Bishop Glass's motto would yield over the years to those of succeeding bishops.
The classic bells of the cathedral express varying moods. McShane Bell Company contracted for two bells to be cast at the Maryland Brass Foundry, one in the tone E-flat and the other in tone G. The bells bore Latin inscriptions and were the gift to the cathedral of Mrs. Joseph Geoghegan in memory of her husband. Bishop Glass blessed the bells as "the voice calling people to prayer, a voice also of either sorrow or joy."
Bishop Scanlan had installed a Kimball organ in the choir loft in 1908 at a cost of approximately $25,000. The organ pipes were carefully designed to frame the rose window which climaxes the stained-glass windows throughout the cathedral. At its center is Saint Cecilia, patroness of music, surrounded by twelve angels holding various instruments of ancient times in twelve petals or medallions. Despite its beauty, the organ proved less than a perfect musical instrument:
In 1920 the Kimball organ was improved with the addition of a specially constructed hard stop and a set of chimes. But, as time progressed, the organ gradually fell into disrepair. It was not used for some years; in fact, only by chance did Father John LaBranche see and stop a man ascending the stairs to the organ loft with tools and every intention of removing the copper and brass out of the silent organ pipes to sell for scrap. In 1936 the Kimball was replaced by a Hammond electric organ. In 1952 Robert J. Dwyer, then monsignor and later archbishop, contracted to refurbish the Kimball in memory of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Dwyer. The work included the complete reconstruction of the console to conform to the standards of the American Guild of Organists.
There always existed a very good relationship between Catholic and Mormon musicians in Salt Lake City. LaMar Petersen, an accomplished musician and a Mormon, remembers teaching cathedral organist Adine Bradley how to play the electric Hammond. At the dedication of the restored organ in 1952, Alexander Schreiner, the prominent organist of the Salt Lake Tabernacle, participated in the program, performing a "Kyrie Eleison" that he himself had composed. Schreiner's predecessor at the Mormon tabernacle organ was Frank Asper who had studied music in Europe and was familiar with Gregorian chant and liturgical music. Mrs. Marguerite D. Sullivan, director of the cathedral choir for many years, recalls that Asper played the cathedral organ for a Thanksgiving mass at which Mrs. Bernard W. Hanson, the regular organist, was unable to be present. This interchange of goodwill enhanced the tradition of music that flowed from the cathedral down through the years.
As the renovation moved toward completion, gargoyles, reminiscent of the Middle Ages, were hoisted to the heights of the cathedral exterior to add an ornamental authenticity to its Gothic architecture. It is believed that they were originally positioned in 1917. Over the years they slowly deteriorated to the degree that they were deemed hazardous and removed in 1930, after which they were apparently lost. Replacements were added to the building in 1977.
Both Bishop Glass and John Comes must have been relieved when the renovation entered its final stages. It had proved a daring and demanding project, taxing the talents of them both. Cancelled checks suggest an overall cost totaling $104,287, though the actual estimate waseventually determined to be $130,000. Something of the appreciative and supportive feeling between the two men can be sensed in Glass's note of December 21, 1917, to Comes enclosing a payment of $1,000: "I hope that it [the check] will cheer things up a little bit around your neighborhood, and I regret that it isn't a million."
Meanwhile, cathedral parishioners, originally preoccupied with survival,came to feel what Comes had called the "quasi-divine hand of art." "Last Sunday," the bishop's letter to Comes continued,
The renovation created in the Catholic community a sense of pride that was reflected in cultural overtones. At the invitation of Bishop Glass, Archbishop Edward J. Hanna lectured in the Salt Lake Theatre in November 1916; the world famous Paulist Choir of Chicago sang at the Orpheum Theatre; noted soloist John Finnegan came in concert to the cathedral, and the great Irish tenor John McCormack held an audience of 10,000 spellbound in the Mormon tabernacle in March 1918.
Although Bishop Glass is best remembered for his artistic achievement, he also was active in diocesan, archdiocesan, and civic affairs. Following the policy established by Bishop Scanlan he maintained cordial relations with his neighbors to the extent that he came to be considered "a man of intense convictions but always fair and frank. Bishop Glass did much to build up his church in Utah, and with it all he was never known to attack the religious convictions of his friends." 56 On September 14, 1918, he registered for service, being one of the few bishops in the country young enough to come within the provisions of the Selective Service Act. (He was not drafted.) When Bishop John Joseph Cantwell of Los Angeles and Archbishop Hanna traveled to Rome in 1920, Bishop Glass administered the Archdiocese of San Francisco during their absence. In fact, his commitments outside the state were so extensive for a time that he came to be called facetiously the "Bishop of Tours."
Glass visited Pope Pius XI in Rome in 1924. While abroad he obtained in southern France a relic of Saint Mary Magdalene for the "only Cathedral in the United States dedicated to God under the patronage of this great Saint." Before returning home he ordered a reliquary to be used in the cathedral and another work of art:
Glass also acquired a collection of statuary, carvings, and some forty paintings in what was considered at that time the finest collection of Renaissance art in the Intermountain West. From Switzerland he brought a complete set of pontifical vestments of each liturgical color, made partially with thread of gold by Fraeful and Company of Saint Fall, Switzerland, to enrich the solemn pageantry of ceremonial services in the cathedral.
By the time Bishop Glass's life ended in 1926, he had compiled as his enduring legacy the renovation of the great building he transformed from Bishop Scanlan's basic Cathedral of Saint Mary Magdalene into the artistically adorned Cathedral of the Madeleine.
The cathedral throne was next occupied by John Joseph Mitty who consecrated the three marble altars in 1928. Along with the crozier he also inherited the heavy debt that had insidiously progressed along with the redecoration. So adept was he at lifting this burden of debt and reducing expenses all along the line that he earned the nickname of "Iron John." In his comparatively short reign of six years he restored economic stability to the diocese and brought the encumbrance on the cathedral down to $50,000, a balance his successor, James E. Kearney, paid off in 1936. Finally, free from debt, the cathedral could be consecrated.
During the ancient ritual of consecration, on November 28, 1936, twelve crosses were affixed to the inner walls of the church and fitted with twelve slender tapers. The essence of the service lay in Bishop Kearney's anointing these crosses with the words, "May this temple be sanctified and consecrated." Subsequently the crosses, still decorating the cathedral walls, would be lighted only on the solemn festival of the anniversary of the day of consecration.
Bishop Kearney's tenure, too, was of comparatively short duration. The elevation of the warmly loved prelate to the Episcopal See of Rochester, New York, in 1937 brought an end to that era of the Catholic church in Utah that had wrested a cathedral out of the wilderness and consecrated it to God.
The cathedral stood physically stable and secure, a civic channel of Christianity. Its ancient architecture would continue to carry the good news of the gospel into the contemporary stream of consciousness. There followed upon the cathedral throne the eloquent orator, Duane G. Hunt (1937—60) who built a superstructure of spiritual growth that earned for him the title of Second Builder of the Diocese of Salt Lake. A convert himself, he maintained considerable rapport with those outside his faith. He considered the Mormon people "as generous as the people of any Diocese or State in this Union." Dr. Donald G. Christiansen, pastor of Wasatch Presbyterian Church and president of the Salt Lake Ministerial Association, commented that "Bishop Hunt knew Christ and had the quiet confidence of a dedicated man ... all good men in and out of his Church recognized him as a true man of God. . . ," The compendium of events during his reign marked the gradual phasing out of the Catholic church's missionary status in Utah and established Bishop Hunt as the precursor of the present. His life and work led ultimately toward the era of Vatican II and contemporary Catholicism.
Bishop Joseph Lennox Federal (1960-80) undertook the monumental task of implementing the decrees of the Second Vatican Council of 1962-65. The portable altar, imposed in 1965 upon the traditional fitments of the sanctuary of the cathedral, represents both the renewal called forth by the council and the resultant chaos and confusion. And yet, upon both altars, the historical and the modern, is sacrificed Jesus Christ whom Pope John Paul II calls "the center of the universe and of history."
Having stood seventy years as the "Catholic contribution to the Utah heritage — a reminder of the roots of western man," the cathedral was officially declared a Utah State Historic Site in April 1970. The following year it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. But its physical structure, subjected to a slow deterioration by Salt Lake's weather extremes, began feeling the weight of its years. As early as the late 1940s, when some exterior refurbishing was carried out on the facade and towers, it was apparent that the annual freeze-thaw cycle and the increase of industrial gases in the valley were eroding the sandy limestone. In the fall of 1960 major repair work was undertaken to lengthen the life of the roof and halt damage from leaks onto the interior plaster and the priceless murals. However, the atmosphere, erosion, and time itself continued their destructive work, and by 1975 Bishop Federal was forced to launch the million-dollar restoration drive successfully spearheaded by John W. Gallivan.
The projected work was carried out over a period of five years. Actual costs and unanticipated needs gradually depleted the funds to the extent that only essential work, mostly on the exterior, could be completed, forcing the bishop to leave to his successors the major part of the interior restoration. Federal announced his resignation at the age of seventy on April 21, 1980. The following November 17 to the incumbent bishop, William Keith Weigand, he bequeathed the Cathedral of the Madeleine as a museum of Utah's historical past and a majestic motif in the fabric of her modern life.
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