St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney
| St Mary's Cathedral | |
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| Cathedral Church and Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Mother of God, Help of Christians | |
| St Mary's Basilica | |
Cathedral from Hyde Park
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 St Mary's Cathedral
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| 33°52′16″S 151°12′48″E / 33.87111°S 151.21333°ECoordinates: 33°52′16″S 151°12′48″E / 33.87111°S 151.21333°E | |
| Location | Sydney, New South Wales |
| Country | Australia |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Website | stmaryscathedral |
| History | |
| Former name(s) | St Mary's Chapel |
| Founded | 21 October 1821 |
| Dedication | Immaculate Conception, Mary Help of Christians |
| Dedicated | 29 June 1865 |
| Consecrated | 8 September 1882 |
| Relics held | First class relic of St Francis Xavier |
| Events | Ruined by fire (29 June 1865) |
| Past bishop(s) | George Pell, Edward Clancy, John Bede Polding |
| Architecture | |
| Status | Minor basilica (since 1932) Cathedral (since 1835) Chapel (1821-1835) National shrine |
| Functional status | Active |
| Architect(s) |
William Wardell (present building) Augustus Welby Pugin (extensions to first building) |
| Architectural type | Chapel (first building) Cathedral (present building) |
| Style | Geometric Decorated Gothic |
| Years built | 1851 (first cathedral) 1928 (nave completed) 2000 (spires added) |
| Groundbreaking | 1821 (St Mary's Chapel) 1868 (present-day cathedral) |
| Specifications | |
| Length | 107 metres (351 ft) |
| Nave width | 24.3 metres (80 ft) |
| Nave height | 22.5 metres (74 ft) |
| Number of spires | 2 |
| Spire height | 74.6 metres (245 ft) |
| Materials | Sydney sandstone, Oamaru stone, marble, alabaster, Moruya granite |
| Bells | 14 |
| Tenor bell weight | 1 long ton 63 cwt 78.9 qr (11,510 lb or 5.22 t) |
| Administration | |
| Parish | St Mary's |
| Deanery | City Deanery |
| Archdiocese | Metropolitan Archdiocese of Sydney |
| Metropolis | Sydney |
| Province | Sydney |
| Clergy | |
| Archbishop | Anthony Fisher OP |
| Auxiliary Bishop(s) | Terence Brady, Tony Randazzo, Richard Umbers |
| Dean | Donald Richardson |
| Chancellor | Chris Meney (Lay Chancellor) |
| Assistant priest(s) | Emmanuel Seo, Brendan Purcell, Pierluigi Passoni |
| Laity | |
| Director of music | Thomas Wilson |
| Organist(s) | Michael Butterfield, Dominic Moawad |
| Business manager | Michael Digges |
| Liturgy coordinator | Donald Richardson |
| Servers' guild | Archconfraternity of St. Stephen |
The Cathedral Church and Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Mother of God, Help of Christians (colloquially, St Mary's Cathedral) is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney and the seat of the Archbishop of Sydney, currently Anthony Fisher OP. It is dedicated to the "Immaculate Mother of God, Help of Christians", Patroness of Australia and holds the title and dignity of a minor basilica, bestowed upon it by Pope Pius XI on 4 August 1932.
St Mary's has the greatest length of any church in Australia (although it is neither the tallest nor largest overall). is located on College Street in the heart of the City of Sydney where, despite the high-rise development of the Sydney central business district, its imposing structure and twin spires make it a landmark from every direction. In 2008, St Mary's Cathedral became the focus of World Youth Day 2008 and was visited by Pope Benedict XVI who consecrated the new forward altar.
Sydney was established as a penal settlement on 26 January 1788 in the name of King George III by Captain Arthur Phillip, for prisoners transported from Britain. Many of the people to arrive in Sydney at that time were military, some with wives and family, there were also some free settlers. The first chaplain of the colony was the Reverend Richard Johnson of the Church of England. No specific provision was made for the religious needs of those many convicts and settlers who were Roman Catholics. To redress this, an Irish Catholic priest, a Father O'Flynn, travelled to the colony of New South Wales but, as he arrived without government sanction, he was sent home.
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