Cathedral Basilica Maria Immaculata (Bulawayo)

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Nave of the cathedral

The Cathedral Basilica Mary Immaculate (ger .: Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate ) is a Roman Catholic Cathedral in Bulawayo , Zimbabwe . The church, dedicated to the Immaculate Conception , is the seat of the Archdiocese of Bulawayo and has the title of a minor basilica .

history

The planning of the church goes back to the activities of the Jesuits who built a small chapel in Bulawayo in the mid-1890s. The foundation stone was laid and blessed on March 25, 1903 by the Apostolic Prefect of Zambezi, Bishop Riccardo Sykes. The church was built by Croatian builders in the shape of a three-aisled basilica made of granite from a local quarry. The first service was celebrated on Easter Sunday, April 3, 1904, by the Bishop of Kimberley , Matthew Gaughren OMI . From 1920 to 1955 it served as a pro-cathedral, since then it has been the cathedral of the newly created diocese of Bulawayo. A significant expansion of the existing church by lengthening the main and side aisles to double its capacity was started in mid-1957; the enlarged church was consecrated on November 22, 1959.

Furnishing

The monolithic altar block and the statues of St. Patrick , Ignatius of Loyola and St. Francis Xavier are significant parts of the church furnishings . The Stations of the Cross , to which the pictures on the inside walls belong, came from England in 1911.

Appreciations

Pope John Paul II visited the cathedral in September 1988. On June 21, 2013, Pope Francis raised the church to minor basilica status as the first in the southern African developing community . The declaration was carried out on August 31, 2013 by the Apostolic Nuncio of Zimbabwe, Archbishop George Kocherry .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception at gcatholic.org
  2. ↑ a b c d St Mary's Cathedral, Bulawayo: First minor basilica in SADC region. victoriafalls24, September 16, 2013, accessed October 9, 2017 .
  3. ↑ St. Mary's Cathedral Basilica Church of the Immaculate Conception
  4. ↑ Misheck Rusere: Vatican Promotes Bulawayo's St Mary's Cathedral. August 29, 2013, accessed October 9, 2017 .

Coordinates: 20 ° 9 ′ 18.3 ″  S , 28 ° 34 ′ 41.3 ″  E