Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption (Fall River, Massachusetts)

Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption
41°41′55″N 71°9′28″W
Location	327 Second Street Fall River, Massachusetts
Country	United States
Denomination	Roman Catholic
History
Status	Cathedral
Dedicated	1855
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	NRHP
Designated	1983
Architect(s)	Patrick C. Keely Maginnis & Walsh
Style	Gothic Revival
Groundbreaking	August 8, 1852
Administration
Province	Boston
Diocese	Fall River
Clergy
Bishop(s)	Most Reverend Edgar Moreira da Cunha, S.D.V.
Rector	The Very Reverend John C. Ozug
Laity
Organist/Director of music	Madeleine Grace
St. Mary's Cathedral and Rectory
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Built	1852
MPS	Fall River MRA
NRHP reference No.	83000723
Added to NRHP	February 16, 1983

The Cathedral's Spring Street façade

The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption, colloquially simply known as Saint Mary's Cathedral, is a historic church on 327 Second Street, in Fall River, Massachusetts. It is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fall River. The cathedral, built in 1852, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, as St. Mary's Cathedral and Rectory. It is the oldest extant church building in the city of Fall River, and was one of the city's first Catholic parishes. Like several other cathedrals around the world, as well as a French parish in the city, the cathedral is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The current Bishop is Edgar M. da Cunha, and the current rector is Rev. John C. Ozug.

Bishop John Fitzpatrick of the Diocese of Boston laid the church's cornerstone on August 8, 1852, on the site of the former Saint John the Baptist Church. Bishop Fitzpatrick returned to dedicate the structure on December 16, 1855, although the steeple was unfinished until 1858. In 1872, the church became a part of the newly created Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence. In 1901, Bishop Matthew Harkins of Providence consecrated the sanctuary, and in 1904 Pope Pius X named it the cathedral church of the newly founded Diocese, its seat first held by Bishop William Stang.

The church and the entire steeple are stonework (save for the gilded cross at its 190-foot high apex), with a shingled roof. The interior includes intricate woodwork, with some gilding above the sanctuary. It is attached to the rectory, chapels and diocesan offices to the rear by a colonnade. The cathedral is one of several grand Catholic churches built in the city during its heyday as an industrial center, including St. Anne Shrine, the Good Shepherd Church (formerly Saint Patrick's), Sacred Heart Church, Espirito Santo, and Saint Joseph's Church, as well as several that have since been lost, including St. Matthieu's in the North End (taken by eminent domain in the 1960s) and Notre Dame de Lourdes in the Flint, which was destroyed in one of the city's most famous conflagrations on May 11, 1982.

See also

• List of Catholic cathedrals in the United States
• List of cathedrals in the United States
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Fall River, Massachusetts

External links

• Official Cathedral Site
• Roman Catholic Diocese of Fall River Official Site