Catholics urged to think big on plans for St. Raphael's

By Pat Schneider, The Capital Times
March 10, 2007

Can Madison area Catholics build a cathedral from a fire's ruin downtown to rival the grandeur of the State Capitol?

Should they?

That was the query laid out this week by Professor Duncan Stroik of the University of Notre Dame, a noted architect and proponent of “renaissance of sacred architecture.”

Stroik, whom Bishop Robert Morlino introduced as a trusted friend and adviser, invited an audience Thursday to imagine the fire-gutted St. Raphael's Cathedral, a historic church off the Capitol Square, replaced by something more grand.

“With the Cathedral of St. Raphael you have the opportunity, maybe even the obligation, to build something that speaks with, and politely debates, the Capitol and university,” Stroik told area Catholics at the O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center as part of a lecture series.

As the second anniversary of the March 14 fire that destroyed much of the cathedral at West Main and Henry streets approaches, Morlino said that he will make a final decision about it after Easter on April 8, conduct a financing feasibility study, then announce cathedral plans early this summer.

Not only do world capitals like Paris, Rome and New York boast landmark cathedrals, Stroik said, but so also do smaller cities—like Omaha, Neb.; Helena, Mont.; and Chartres, France.

“Within a city, the temple is usually the greatest work of architecture,” Stroik said.

And destruction by fire has given rise to many great buildings, including the Wisconsin Capitol, he noted. The cathedral of Chartres, with two spires climbing 25 stories, was destroyed by fire twice, and each time a more magnificent church was built. Citizens of the city spurned horse carts and instead dragged carts of stone to the church site themselves in an act of contrition, Stroik said.

The site of old St. Raphael, with more than a century of prayer, baptisms and marriages, is sacred, he added, arguing that Madison cries out for a cathedral in scale with the surrounding buildings of state government and the University of Wisconsin—lofty, large, strong, tall and grand.

If a cathedral were built from scratch on the site, with amenities to meet the modern demands of diocese, he would recommend reorienting the cathedral to stand along Henry Street to allow a longer building, he said.

A cathedral in a contemporary architectural style could be built, “but how does that speak to transcendent values, how soon would it go out of style?” he asked.

A cathedral in the classic style likely would mean a dome, towers and a public plaza or garden. For the site that the Madison Diocese owns, it likely would mean three to five stories for auxiliary buildings, underground parking and a new bishop's residence, Stroik said.

Elements of the old cathedral, like the characteristic gold-hued stone, the steeple, stained-glass windows and mosaics, could be reused in a new structure, he said.

Stroik and Morlino waved off questions about cost estimates Thursday, with the bishop stressing that a study of how much money could be raised would determine what would be built.

But among the projects Stroik is working on are a $20 million “small” church in Santa Paula, Calif., and a $30 million shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse.

“I would like to do what we can afford,” Morlino said. Fundraising for a cathedral would not be limited to the Catholic community. “People care about downtown Madison,” he said. “They care about having a cathedral that's worthy of Madison.”

Stroik's vision of a grand cathedral kindled the passions of Catholics who heard him.

“It's a tremendous idea,” said one woman who declined to give her name. The cost of a cathedral on the scale sketched by Stroik is possible for the diocese, she said. “We'll find a way.”

Tom Nelson also was excited by the possibilities. In addition to the practical considerations of meeting the needs of the diocese, he was struck by Stroik's declaration that a cathedral is “a catechism in stone.”

As far as raising the money to construct a grand temple, Nelson summoned the story of the people of Chartres, who used the strength of their backs to carry stone to the cathedral. “Building this sacred place will require sacrifice, sacrifice for the good of the whole city that will last beyond all our lifetimes,” he said.