On the Dedication of a Cathedral

Not long ago I offered a reflection on the 35th anniversary of the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa. However, it is important to remember that not only was the Diocese established and its first bishop ordained to the episcopacy, but Mount Carmel Cathedral was dedicated. While the building had existed for 35 years prior to January 15, 1985, it status had been as a parish church.  On that day the building became a cathedral.

The word “cathedral” comes from the Latin word “cathedra” which means “seat”. The implication is that the seat belongs to one in authority and it is from that seat that the person exercises his or her authority. A cathedral is a church that is headed by a bishop.

Cathedrals began to appear in the 4th century. The persecution of Christians by the Roman government was ended, and Emperor Constantine had given Christianity favored status among the religions found in the Empire. In more rural dioceses, the Emperor tended to appoint bishops to serve as public magistrates, as they were usually well educated, compared to many of their neighbors, and accepted by the populace who either elected them to the role of bishop or had a voice in the process. In the larger towns and cities, the magistrate would have a meeting hall/court room where he would hear petitioners and make decisions in the name of the Emperor. These meeting halls were also a good place to hold religious services, if there weren’t already dedicated houses of worship (domus ecclesiae), which the magistrate/bishop tended to do. The association of public authority with spiritual authority grew in strength over time. The imperial courthouse (basilica-Roman meeting hall) was the seat of the bishop and the symbolic representation of his authority within the local church and the civil government. By the late 4th century it was common to refer to this building as the cathedral for the diocese, though it wasn’t until the 12th century that just about every diocese had a cathedral as its official seat of authority and the bishop’s church. By this time basilica referred to any large church building and not just civic meeting halls.

You may wonder why this diocese is known as the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa, or the official name for the Guam diocese is the Archdiocese of Agaña.  Why not just refer to the diocese with the name by which most people know the civic region. For example, wouldn’t it make more sense to call this diocese the Diocese of the Northern Mariana Islands or the neighboring diocese the Archdiocese of Guam? The reason the current naming scheme is used goes back to the idea of the bishop as head of the local church. His cathedral is the seat of his authority. So, the diocese is named after the civil jurisdiction in which the cathedral is located. The other civil jurisdictions in the region are associated with the civil jurisdiction in which the cathedral is located and, in the context of church, under the authority of its bishop.

This is much more apparent when you are talking about a large city as the location of the cathedral and suburbs as outlying areas associated with the city but separate civil jurisdictions. It is much less apparent when the same naming system is applied to the CNMI, where Chalan Kanoa village is one of many villages that are about the same size. However, that is the naming system that developed over the years.

The actual dedication of the building as a cathedral is rich in symbolism. Much of the symbolism draws from the sacrament of Baptism with extensive sprinkling with holy water and anointing with oil. God’s blessings upon the building and those who will gather there for worship over the years is requested in prayer.

When a church is dedicated, whether it is a cathedral or not, the ceremony of dedication has the symbolic value of letting everyone know that this building has a new and specific purpose. With a cathedral, the dedication marks the point in time where the building becomes more than just a parish church. It marks the point in time when that church building becomes the seat of the bishop of the diocese. As such, the cathedral also becomes the mother church of the diocese. Often the cathedral is the home for a parish community, but it is also home for every Catholic in the diocese, even if they are members of another parish as well. The cathedral serves not only its local parish community but the entire diocese.

Yet, the dedication ceremony is not just symbolic. It is also a profound act of prayer. It is an act of thanksgiving to God for the inexpressible gift received first in Christ’s paschal mystery and then brought to us in the Eucharist. We perceive in this act of worship the church fulfilling its ministry of sanctification. Human sanctification and God’s glorification are the ends toward which the church is directed and many of the church’s activities dedicated to these ends will take place in this cathedral building. Their effects will emanate outward, throughout the diocese and, perhaps even the world.