St. Joseph Cathedral is a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations ...

located in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, an ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

which serves as the seat of the

Diocese of Columbus The Diocese of Columbus ( la, Dioecesis Columbensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church covering 23 counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The episcopal see of the diocese is situated at Columbus. The dioce ...

. The church building, completed in 1878, is located on Broad Street in Downtown Columbus.

History

St. Joseph Parish, named after

Saint Joseph Joseph (; el, Ἰωσήφ, translit=Ioséph) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who, according to the canonical Gospels, was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. The Gospels also name some brothers ...

, was founded by members of St. Patrick’s Parish in Columbus in 1866 to alleviate overcrowding. Its pastor, the Rev. Edward M. Fitzgerald, began to plan for the church, raised money, formed a building committee and secured property on Broad Street and Fifth for $13,500. The committee chose name St. Joseph for the new church, and selected Michael Harding as architect. Contractor John McCabe began construction June 6, 1866 with John Stoddard engaged as mason. Auxiliary Bishop Sylvester H. Rosecrans of

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

laid the

cornerstone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over tim ...

November 11, 1866. In 1867, Father Fitzgerald became Bishop of Little Rock and Rosecrans succeeded him as pastor of St. Patrick’s. On March 3, 1868,

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX ( it, Pio IX, ''Pio Nono''; born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878, the longest verified papal reign. He was notable for convoking the First Vatican ...

established the Diocese of Columbus and named Rosecrans as its first bishop. He selected St. Joseph’s as the cathedral for the new diocese. Rosecrans named Robert T. Brookes to succeed Harding as architect and altered the original design of a brick structure to stone, specifically boasted ashlar quarried from

Licking Licking is the action of passing the tongue over a surface, typically either to deposit saliva onto the surface, or to collect liquid, food or minerals onto the tongue for ingestion, or to communicate with other animals. Many animals both gro ...

and Fairfield counties to befit its elevated status as a cathedral. Because of this, workers demolished the existing foundation walls rebuilt them deeper. Retired General

William Rosecrans William Starke Rosecrans (September 6, 1819March 11, 1898) was an American inventor, coal-oil company executive, diplomat, politician, and U.S. Army officer. He gained fame for his role as a Union general during the American Civil War. He was ...

, older brother of the bishop, came to Columbus to assist with some of the design plans in the summer of 1870. Rosecrans celebrated the first Mass in the unfinished cathedral on Christmas 1872. Soon after, Cardinal

John McCloskey John McCloskey (March 10, 1810 – October 10, 1885) was a senior-ranking American prelate of the Catholic Church. He was the first American born Archbishop of New York from 1864 until his death in 1885, having previously served as Bishop o ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

donated marble, from the same quarry used in the construction of

St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York St. Patrick's Cathedral is a Catholic cathedral in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It is the seat of the Archbishop of New York as well as a parish church. The cathedral occupies a city block bounded by Fifth Avenue, Mad ...

, to construct a

high altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in pagan ...

and side altars. In 1873, parish purchased the home of Joseph Gundersheimer, across Broad Street between Sixth and Seventh Streets, to house the clergy. It served until the diocese could construct a

rectory A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically o ...

attached to the cathedral. Even though interior decoration of the building was incomplete, Rosecrans consecrated it on October 20, 1878. The final cost was $218,000. Rosecrans died the following day. He was interred directly beneath the main altar. The cathedral held a Respect Life

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different ele ...

on January 22, 2021 to commemorate the 48th anniversary of the ''

Roe v. Wade ''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States conferred the right to have an abortion. The decision struck down many federal and st ...

'' decision, and the liturgy was disrupted by about 8 pro-

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...

protestors. Some held signs calling for the repeal of the

Hyde Amendment In U.S. politics, the Hyde Amendment is a legislative provision barring the use of federal funds to pay for abortion, except to save the life of the woman, or if the pregnancy arises from incest or rape. Before the Hyde Amendment took effect in ...

. Representatives from the police and the church escorted the protestors outside. Robert J. Brennan issued a statement, thanking law enforcement and church officials, and the faithful who were present in prayer, saying they reflect "joy, hope, and mercy that marks our pro-life witness."

Architecture

St. Joseph Cathedral was designed in the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style and built of ashlar stone quarried in

and Fairfield counties. The exterior dimensions of the building are with walls thick. The Broad Street (south)

façade A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loan word from the French (), which means ' frontage' or ' face'. In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important aspect ...

of the cathedral houses three entrances and was to be framed by two towers. The southwest tower was to rise to a height of and contain three clock faces and a chime of ten bells. while the southeast tower was to reach a height of . Both towers remain incomplete. The Fifth Street façade houses an additional entrance. In 1914, the diocese remodeled the cathedral replacing the main and side altars and communion rail. Work also included replacing the iron columns supporting the clearstory, new lighting, and sacristy improvements The cathedral saw further changes in 1967 when the lower level was excavated to create a usable meeting space. In June 1978, the sanctuary was updated in an attempt to incorporate changes mandated by the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...

. File:Saint Joseph Cathedral, Columbus, Ohio - Good Fri 2011.jpg, Interior File:Saint Joseph Cathedral, Columbus, Ohio - organ.jpg, Pipe organ File:Cathedra_of_Bishop_Earl_Fernandes_at_St._Joseph_Cathedral_in_Columbus,_Ohio.jpg,

Cathedra A ''cathedra'' is the raised throne of a bishop in the early Christian basilica. When used with this meaning, it may also be called the bishop's throne. With time, the related term ''cathedral'' became synonymous with the "seat", or principal ...

displaying the arms of

Earl K. Fernandes Earl Kenneth Fernandes (born September 21, 1972) is a Catholic prelate who has served as the 13th Bishop of Columbus in Ohio since 2022. Fernandes is the first Indian-American bishop of the Latin Church in the United States, the first person ...

References

External links

*
Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus
*
St. Joseph Cathedral and the American Gothic
' {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Joseph Cathedral, Columbus, Ohio 1866 establishments in Ohio Buildings and structures in Downtown Columbus, Ohio Gothic Revival church buildings in Ohio Religious organizations established in 1866 Joseph Cathedral, Columbus Roman Catholic churches completed in 1878 Roman Catholic churches in Columbus, Ohio Columbus Register properties 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States Broad Street (Columbus, Ohio)

History

Architecture

See also

References

External links