Basilica of the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart (Charleston, West Virginia)
Encyclopedia
The Basilica of the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart is a cathedral church
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...

 and a Minor Basilica
Minor basilica
Minor basilica is a title given to some Roman Catholic churches. By canon law no Catholic church can be honoured with the title of basilica unless by apostolic grant or from immemorial custom....

 located in Charleston, West Virginia
Charleston, West Virginia
Charleston is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha Rivers in Kanawha County. As of the 2010 census, it has a population of 51,400, and its metropolitan area 304,214. It is the county seat of Kanawha County.Early...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Along with the Cathedral of St. Joseph
Cathedral of Saint Joseph of Wheeling
The Cathedral of Saint Joseph of Wheeling or Saint Joseph's Cathedral is the seat of the bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston. In addition to being the seat of the bishop, the cathedral is home to the oldest congregation in the city of Wheeling, West Virginia.-History:The...

 in Wheeling
Wheeling, West Virginia
Wheeling is a city in Ohio and Marshall counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia; it is the county seat of Ohio County. Wheeling is the principal city of the Wheeling Metropolitan Statistical Area...

 it is the seat of the Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston
Roman Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the southern United States comprising the state of West Virginia. It is a conjoined diocese with two centers of worship, one day expected to be split into two separate...

.

Sacred Heart Parish

The first Catholic priest to visit what is now West Virginia came in 1832. In 1836 the Rev. Alexander L. Hitzelberger of Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....

 visited relatives in Charleston and said Mass in the courthouse. Bishop Richard Vincent Whelan
Richard Vincent Whelan
Richard Vincent Whelan was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Richmond, Virginia and Bishop of Wheeling, West Virginia ....

 of Richmond
Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond is an ecclesiastical and episcopal see or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. Its current territory was created by Pope Paul VI and encompasses all of central and southern Virginia, Hampton Roads, and the eastern shore...

 visited the city in 1842. The diocese of Wheeling was established by Pope Pius IX
Pope Pius IX
Blessed Pope Pius IX , born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, was the longest-reigning elected Pope in the history of the Catholic Church, serving from 16 June 1846 until his death, a period of nearly 32 years. During his pontificate, he convened the First Vatican Council in 1869, which decreed papal...

 on July 19, 1850. Various priests visited the area from time to time. The Rev. Stenger settled in Charleston for a short time in 1862, but the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 hindered his ministry. He was able to return and settle in the town again in 1866. There was no church building at the time so Stenger celebrated Mass on the second floor of B. Ward's store on Front Street (now Kanawha Boulevard).

Sacred Heart parish was established on August 1, 1866 when Bishop Whelan, who was now Bishop of Wheeling, purchased the Dunbar property in Charleston. A two-story brick building was used for a church and school. In 1869 a frame church that measured 60 x 25 feet was built for $1,500.00. It sat on the site of the present rectory on Virginia Street. The rectory was located on the site of the old courtyard. The first assistant pastor assigned to Sacred Heart in 1870 was the Rev. Terence I. Duffy. Various missions were established and were served by both priests.

In 1885 Father Stenger started a collection for a new church. Prominent Protestants also provided financial assistance. By 1892 the parish census showed there were 84 English families and 56 German families. There were 90 students enrolled in the school. H.B. Lowe was chosen as the architect for the new church, and $600 was spent for plans and specifications for the new building. The first Mass celebrated in the present church was celebrated on Christmas in 1897.

Father Stenger died in 1900 and in April 1901 Capuchin friars
Order of Friars Minor Capuchin
The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin is an Order of friars in the Catholic Church, among the chief offshoots of the Franciscans. The worldwide head of the Order, called the Minister General, is currently Father Mauro Jöhri.-Origins :...

 began their ministry at Sacred Heart. A new rectory was built the following year. Additions were also made to the church building in the first decade of the 20th century. The first pipe organ
Pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...

 was installed in 1905. The marble high altar was erected in 1909. The stained glass windows
Stained Glass Windows
Stained Glass Windows was an early broadcast television program, broadcast on early Sunday evenings on the ABC network. The program was a religious broadcast, hosted by the Reverend Everett Parker....

 from Munich, Germany were installed the same year. The three bells that were placed in the tower in 1911 include: St. Richard at 2,600 pounds, St. Joseph at 1,500 pounds and the Blessed Virgin at 700 pounds.

In 1948 the old pipe organ was replaced by a Wurlitzer
Wurlitzer
The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to simply as Wurlitzer, was an American company that produced stringed instruments, woodwinds, brass instruments, theatre organs, band organs, orchestrions, electronic organs, electric pianos and jukeboxes....

 electronic organ for $4,500.00. The St. Cecilia's Guild started a weekly bingo to raise the money for a new Kilgen
Kilgen
Kilgen was a prominent American builder of organs which was in business from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century.-History:-The Kilgen family:...

 pipe organ, which was built for $31,832.48. The interior of the church was extensively renovated from 1950-1951. The front part of the present rectory was built in 1952. Another new convent was completed in 1958. It eventually became the Cenacle Retreat House. The present pews were installed in the church in 1958 for $11,429. Artist John L. Baker painted the sanctuary ceiling with a vibrant complex linear painting in 1966.

Sacred Heart Co-Cathedral

On October 4, 1974 Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI
Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...

 renamed the Diocese of Wheeling as the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston. Sacred Heart Church was named the co-cathedral for the diocese. In 1980 the Capuchins left the parish after ministering at the parish for 79 years. A diocesan priest, the Rev. Edward Sadie became the cathedral rector.

Various renovation and building projects occurred in the 1980’s. A capitol fund drive, Growth In Faith Together, was initiated. The cathedral was renovated inside and out. The project included air-conditioning, cleaning and repairing the stained glass windows and a Schantz 60 rank pipe organ was installed. The parish purchased the former Kanawha Valley Hospital building and built a parking lot on part of the property. In 1985 the John XXIII Pastoral Center was dedicated. In 1987 the cathedral sanctuary was carpeted. Furniture maker Edward Hillenbrand built a new Bishop's Chair, Ambo and Altar. The cathedral was dedicated by Bishop Francis B. Schulte
Francis B. Schulte
Francis Bible Schulte is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Wheeling-Charleston from 1985 to 1988, and Archbishop of New Orleans from 1989 to 2001.-Biography:...

 in 1988.

In the 1990s Riverview Terrace was bought to be used as a complex for the elderly. The purchase was made possible in part through the estates of Blanche and Maxine Horan. The parish joined with First Presbyterian to build two houses for Habitat for Humanity.

In the first decade of the 21st century the parking lot of the Charleston newspaper was purchased by the parish. The Cenacle Retreat property was remodeled for parish office space and apartments were created for the parish clergy. It was renamed the Cordis Center. The cathedral was renovated and a new gathering space was added to the church building. On November 9, 2009 Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...

 raised Sacred Heart to the dignity of a Minor Basilica.

Catholic Schools

The first school at Sacred Heart was opened in 1866 in the Dunbar Building that served as a combination church and school. For the rest of the 19th century the school was not a stable entity. Between 1868 and 1870 the school was closed. It was reopened by the Sisters of St. Joseph
Sisters of St. Joseph
The title Sisters of St. Joseph applies to several Roman Catholic religious congregations of women. The largest and oldest of these was founded in Le Puy-en-Velay, France...

. At the same time a boarding school named St. Mary’s Academy was opened and it operated from 1870-1895. A new school building was constructed in 1872. From 1892-1903 the parish was without its school again. The school was re-opened by Franciscan Sisters of Penance and Christian Charity and a new convent was built in 1904.

A new school building opened on September 8, 1920. The first high school classes were begun in 1922. A building was bought and remodeled in 1927 for a high school. Bishop John Swint
John Joseph Swint
John Joseph Swint was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Wheeling from 1922 until his death in 1962.-Biography:...

 laid the cornerstone
Cornerstone
The cornerstone concept is derived from the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation, important since all other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure.Over time a cornerstone became a ceremonial masonry stone, or...

 for a new high school in 1940 and the building opened the following year as Charleston Catholic High School
Charleston Catholic High School
Charleston Catholic High School is located in downtown Charleston, West Virginia, USA. CCHS is a Catholic, coeducational high school founded in 1923. It is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston.-History:...

. The grade school was remodeled in 1942. The Dunbar Building, which had served as grade school, convent, rectory for the Capuchins, school, first high school, parish hall, and parish library was torn down. Kindergarten was added to the school in 1952. The third floor of the high school building was built in 1956. The present grade school building was constructed for $521,140 in 1962.

A new playground was built in 1986, and in 1990 Seton Hall was renovated with classrooms on second and third floors and space for the After School Care Program on the first floor. A $3.5 million fund drive was initiated in the 1990s and a new science wing was built for the high school.

External links

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