Cathedral of Christ The King, Johannesburg

Cathedral of Christ The King
Cathedral of Christ the King
General information
Status	Complete
Type	Place of Worship
Location	1 Saratoga Ave, Berea, Johannesburg
Completed	1958
Height
Roof	81 feet (25 m)
Technical details
Floor count	1
Design and construction
Architect	B.Gregory & J.P Monahan

The Cathedral of Christ The King is a Catholic cathedral in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The cathedral was built in 1958 in Berea. The plans to build the Cathedral was envisioned by David O'Leary in 1937. O'Leary was the first South African born Catholic Bishop of Johannesburg. O'Leary had originally intended the cathedral to be built on a site near Kerk Street but that land was partially sold and the remainder became the Kerk Street Church.

The cathedral plans were put on hold due to the outbreak of the Second World War and O'Leary died in 1950. In 1957 a site was bought in Saratoga Avenue by Bishop W.P.Whelan and funds were collected to lay the first stone in 1958. The Cathedral of Christ the King was designed by architect Brian Gregory from Belfast, Northern Ireland. The construction work was overseen by John P. Monahan and completed in 1958 by contractors John Burrow (Pty) Ltd of Johannesburg. The Cathedral was consecrated and opened in 1960.

Whelan went on to be Archbishop of Bloemfontein and to cause some controversy when he failed to distance the South African Catholic church from apartheid in 1964. The new Cathedral was officially opened in 1960.

The old cathedral in Kerk Street, built in 1896, had served the catholic community well, but with increasing numbers, it was decided to erect a new and larger cathedral that would be the most worthy structure possible. The new cathedral now stands at the corner of End Street, once the limit, as its name implies, of the town’s development, and Saratoga Avenue. This is a reasonably quiet situation, which, with the city’s expansion, in now comparatively centrally located.

The site was originally the location of Henry Nourse’s House, which was recorded in property records for 1913 and 1925.

Modern in its detailing and construction, the Cathedral has a traditional Latin Cross form with a high nave – 65 ft, transepts, crossing and sanctuary. The nave is approximately 190 ft long and has a vast capacity with seating for 1,500 people. A gallery seats a further 130 people. The side chapels are flat-roofed single storey spaces that wrap around the perimeter of the nave, along with the large meeting room and sacristies towards the End Street end of the building. The building rises 81 ft from the pavement level on Saratoga Avenue, giving an impressive front facade.