Saint Chad's Cathedral

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RC Cathedral of St Chad, Birmingham

Saint Chad's Cathedral is the seat of the Roman Catholic Province of Birmingham, England, a province of the Catholic Church in Great Britain. It is dedicated to Saint Chad of Mercia. It was the first Roman Catholic cathedral to be built in England after the Reformation and is one of only three minor basilicas in England (the others being Downside Abbey and Corpus Christi, Manchester). It is a Grade II* listed building.

1 History
2 Design
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] History

St. Chad's was the first Catholic cathedral erected in England after the Protestant Reformation initiated in 1534 by King Henry VIII. St. Chad's Cathedral was built at the behest of Bishop Thomas Walsh, the local apostolic vicar. It was consecrated as a church on 21 June 1841, named a cathedral in 1850 by Pope Pius IX, and declared a minor basilica in 1941 by Pope Pius XII. The first Bishop of Birmingham was William Bernard Ullathorne O.S.B., whose remains are entombed beneath St Chad's.

The Cathedral was bombed in November 1940. The bomb fell through the roof and bounced from the floor into some central heating pipe, when it then exploded. The water from the damaged central heating pipes then extinguished the subsequent fire.

The current Archbishop is His Grace, the Archbishop Vincent Nichols.

[edit] Design

Alternative view

The Cathedral has a neo-gothic design by Augustus Pugin. It is located on a hillside that was once the edge of the old industrial area in Birmingham and now sits on the 1960s St. Chad's Queensway, which was built around it. It was constructed of red brick and reddish gray stone. Narrow floor dimensions are compensated by a soaring roof and ceiling with curving trusses painted blue and sanctuary pillars painted gold. The relics above the high altar at St Chad's were originally enshrined at, and rescued from, Lichfield Cathedral, before its destruction during the Reformation. The altar is built of limestone, oak, and pine. The 16th century Flemish pulpit was donated by a Catholic church in Germany and the stalls were given by a number of Catholic congregations in Belgium. In 1932, St Chad's was expanded with St Edward's Chapel, which was built in memory of Archbishop Edward Ilsley and his patron St Edward the Confessor. The chapel windows depict the history of St Chad's, its relics, and those who have served the church there. The current church organ was built by J. W. Walker in 1993 and is considered to be one of the largest and finest organs of any church in Britain.