St Mary's Cathedral, Perth
| St Mary's Cathedral, Perth | |
|---|---|
The completed cathedral after repairs and expansion, pictured in July 2010
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| Basic information | |
| Location | Perth, Western Australia, Australia |
| Geographic coordinates | 31°57′20″S 115°51′59″E / 31.9556°S 115.8665°ECoordinates: 31°57′20″S 115°51′59″E / 31.9556°S 115.8665°E |
| Affiliation | Roman Catholic |
| District | Metropolitan Archdiocese of Perth |
| Country | Australia |
| Year consecrated | 29 January 1865 (Stage 1) 9 December 2009 (Stage 3) |
| Ecclesiastical or organizational status | Cathedral |
| Leadership | Archbishop Timothy Costelloe |
| Website | [1] |
| Architectural description | |
| Architect(s) |
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| Architectural type | Church |
| Architectural style | Academic Gothic |
| Groundbreaking | 1863 |
| Completed | 2010 |
St Mary's Cathedral, Perth, officially the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Perth, and seat of its Archbishop, currently Timothy Costelloe.
The cathedral is at the centre of Victoria Square, on the northern end of Victoria Avenue, Perth, Western Australia.
The cathedral as it now stands was constructed in three main phases, with the first phase completed in 1865. Plans were drawn up for the replacement of the cathedral in the 1920s with a larger Perpendicular Gothic edifice. However, construction was interrupted by the onset of the Great Depression, leaving a new transept and sanctuary, with the aisle of the original cathedral as its nave. After 70 years incomplete, and portions of the cathedral requiring extensive repair work, funds were eventually raised in the late 1990s and early 2000s for the completion of the expansion. A new curved design for the expansion was created, and featured a second spire and underground parish centre. The cathedral closed for construction in 2006, and reopened in December 2009.
The first Roman Catholic church in the colony was St John's Pro-Cathedral on Victoria Avenue. The colony eventually outgrew this small church, and the local Bishop expressed an interest in constructing a "more worthy Cathedral".
The Benedictine Brothers from Subiaco and New Norcia had constructed the Bishop's Palace facing Victoria Square. The square had originally been named "Church Square", and had been set aside for the construction of a Church of England cathedral. However, the early Anglicans in the colony considered the location to be too far from the centre of the fledgling colony, and instead constructed St George's Cathedral on what is now St Georges Terrace. Bishop Serra therefore applied to the Governor of the colony to cede the land in Victoria Square to the Roman Catholic Church, which occurred on 13 August 1859.
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