Sacred Heart Cathedral (Davenport, Iowa)

In 1889, Bishop Cosgrove decided that a new, larger church should be built. The parish was out-growing the old church and there was a desire for a structure with more of a cathedral image.[12] The church property sits in a residential area where the city's Irish community resided from the 1850s to 1900. Because a disproportionate number of people had their origins in County Cork the neighborhood became known as Cork Hill.[12]

The initial planning for the new cathedral was carried out by Father Trevis, who was once again assigned to St Margaret's after Cosgrove was named bishop. The assignment became too much for him, however, and he was replaced by the Rev. James Davis. James J. Egan, an architect from Chicago, was chosen to design the new cathedral. At the same time, he also designed St. Ambrose Church in Des Moines, which became a cathedral in 1911.[13] The Ecclesiological Society, which had a mission of preserving Gothic architecture, was an influence in the church design. The cathedral was built on the English parish church model. Walsh & Edwards of Davenport were chosen to be the contractor, and Davenport architect Victor Huot as supervising architect.[14]

On April 27, 1890, the cornerstone for the new cathedral was laid. Gas pipe that was to be used for interior lighting was laid in February 1891. That same month lathing was applied and the walls and ceiling were plastered in April. The woodwork was completed by June. The frames for the windows were manufactured at a mill across the river in Rock Island, Illinois. The frame for the large window in the apse weighs 31⁄2 tons.[15] The windows were donated by individuals and groups. The new cathedral was finished in 1891, and it was dedicated on November 15 of that year by Bishop Cosgrove.[16] Bishop John Hennessy of Dubuque preached the sermon at the dedication. In the evening the cathedral choir presented a concert of sacred music and Bishop John Lancaster Spalding of Peoria delivered a lecture.

The Sacred Heart window in the apse

It was Father Trevis who suggested the parish's name change.[5] He had visited Paray-le-Monial in France where St. Margaret Mary Alacoque had the visions of the Sacred Heart. The devotion was popular within St. Margaret's parish. Bishop Cosgrove also had a devotion to the Sacred Heart and had the image emblazoned on his coat of arms.[17] The bishop requested permission from Pope Leo XIII to name the new church Sacred Heart Cathedral. On December 23, 1889, the pope granted this permission on the grounds that a chapel dedicated to St. Margaret be maintained in the church. Sacred Heart Cathedral was the first cathedral to be dedicated to the Sacred Heart in the United States.[18]

The nave from the back

The nave from the altar

Sacred Heart follows a basilica plan with a corner tower. The foundation is composed of Anamosa Limestone and the walls of the structure are brick, clad in rock-faced Bedford stone quarried in Indiana. The nave is nine bays in length, and they are divided by buttresses. The first bay is the tower section. The other bays contain either a tracery or paired lancet window, which alternate down the nave. The church measures 180 feet (55 m) in length and its nave is 65 feet (20 m) wide.[1] Across the back, where the sacristy and St. Margaret's chapel are located, it is 80 feet (24 m) wide. The roof rises 75 feet (23 m) above the ground and the spire on top of the tower is 160 feet (49 m) tall. When it was completed the cathedral was the tallest structure in the Quad Cities.[19]

The church features an open interior without columns. There is an extensive amount of woodwork in the interior, including the altars, pews, ceiling, wainscoting, and the gallery frontal. There are four sets of oak pews across the width of the church. The vaulted ceiling is supported by hammer beams. The reliefs below the old high altar depict the sacrifice of Able, Abraham and his son Isaac, and the priest Melchizedek. The three Old Testament images are found in the Roman Canon. The statues of St. Peter and St. Paul were added later. Gold reliquaries that contain relics of various saints are in nooks on either side of the reredos. The shrine of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the left side of the church contains statues of St. Benedict on the left and St. Thomas Aquinas on the right, that were added in 1902. At the base of the altar is a relief of the Dormition of the Virgin. The St. Joseph shrine contains statues of St. Ignatius of Loyola on the left and St. Anthony of Padua on the right that were also added in 1902. At the base of the altar is a relief of Joseph on his deathbed with Mary and Jesus at his side. Initially, the bishop's throne was placed in the archway on the left side of the sanctuary. The large stations of the cross are bas reliefs with wood frames that line the sidewalls of the church. They were installed in 1892.

The stained glass windows feature bright colors that were chosen by Bishop Cosgrove.[20] The tall windows on the sides of the nave depict the Twelve Apostles. The rose window on the front of the church includes the following Christian images: an anchor for hope, wheat for bread, a crown for Christ the King, keys for the Apostle Peter, a dove for the Holy Spirit, the cross and crown for the crucifixion, the chalice and bread for the Holy Communion, and a harp for music and worship. The large window over the altar depicts Jesus appearing to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, who spread the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The first electric lights in the cathedral were installed in the sanctuary in 1895.[21] Previously, the church had been lit by gas lighting. A renovation of the cathedral's interior was completed in 1907. It included a frescoing of the interior, enlarging the choir loft, and adding six hundred new lights.[22]

The cathedra

Bishop Cosgrove's health started to fail in the early 1900s and he requested a coadjutor bishop. Once again the cathedral's rector was chosen to be a bishop. Bishop Davis was the first bishop consecrated in Sacred Heart Cathedral, on November 30, 1904.[23] He replaced Bishop Cosgrove upon the laters death two years later.

By the end of the first decade of the 20th century, the parish's boundaries were set. In 1902 Our Lady of Lourdes was established in Gilbert, present-day Bettendorf, and in 1909 St. Paul the Apostle was founded in Davenport. The parish's boundaries include some of the poorer sections of the central city as well as some of Davenport's older and wealthier neighborhoods.

Lightning hit the building on August 20, 1928. The lightning-sparked a fire between the slates of the roof and the ceiling. This caused extensive smoke and water damage to the church. Services were held in St. Margaret's Chapel and the school auditorium during the repairs. The church was repainted in a gothic design. In order to hide the damage, the woodwork was stained a dark English Oak color. The ceiling decorations were completed by the Davenport decorating firm of Hartman and Sedding.

Two priests of the Davenport diocese were consecrated as bishop for other dioceses in Sacred Heart Cathedral. Bishop William Adrian, who spent most of his career at St. Ambrose College, was consecrated for the Diocese of Nashville on April 16, 1936, by Archbishop Amleto Cicognani.[24] Bishop Maurice Dingman, who held a variety of administrative positions in the diocese, was ordained for the Diocese of Des Moines on June 19, 1968, by Archbishop Luigi Raimondi. His was one of the first episcopal ordinations celebrated in the vernacular.[25]

Starting in the 1960s the parish implemented a number of changes, which were in line with the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. In March 1964 a new altar was set up that allowed the priest to face the congregation. The cathedral was the first church in the Quad Cities to make this change.[15] The communion rail, pulpit and bishop's throne were removed in 1980. A new cathedra, or bishop's chair, was placed against the reredos so that he would face the congregation. The liturgies were celebrated in English instead of Latin.

Our Lady of La Vang shrine

Social Ministry has been a hallmark of the cathedral parish since the pastorate of Msgr. Sebastian Menke. El Centro Cultural Hispano was founded in 1975 to serve the needs of Spanish-speaking people throughout the Quad City area. Masses in Spanish were celebrated at the cathedral starting in 1977.[26] The Latino community eventually relocated to St. Joseph's Church in Davenport. A clothing center that provides free clothes to those in need was established in the cathedral basement, and later a community food pantry was started by the parish. Sacred Heart was one of the founding churches of Quad Cities Interfaith. It also started Interfaith Housing, a non-profit corporation to rehab old and rundown houses in the inner city neighborhood.

Extensive renovations were done to the cathedral in the early 1990s. These renovations were made possible through the result of the generosity of parishioner Elizabeth Kahl-Figge who included the parish in her will. This included replacing the roof and repainting the interior of the church. The painting of St. Margaret of Scotland that hung in St. Margaret's Chapel was repaired and hung in the cathedral. The painting dates to 1873 and is the work of Johann Schmitt. It was originally hung in the high altar of the old cathedral. The painting was severely damaged when it was removed from the old church. It was restored in 1990 at the Intermuseum Laboratory in Oberlin, Ohio.[15]

In the 1990s, liturgies celebrated in Vietnamese were added to accommodate the area's growing Vietnamese Community. A shrine to Our Lady of La Vang was also added to the cathedral grounds in 2004.[15]

Sears Center Diocesan Hall

On May 26, 2011, Pope Benedict XVI named Msgr. Robert Gruss as the Bishop of Rapid City.[27] He had served as the cathedral's rector and the parish pastor since 2010. Gruss was the third rector/pastor to be named a bishop.

Bracke-Hayes-Miller-Mahon Architects (BHMM) of Davenport began working with the parish in 2012 to develop a plan to update the parish facilities. A new handicap-accessible entrance on the east side of the cathedral was completed in January 2013. In September 2016 construction began on the new hall immediately behind the cathedral. It includes a gathering space, restrooms, a handicap-accessible entrance on the west side, a reception hall, and classrooms.[28] Mark Miller was the principal architect and Swanson Construction of Bettendorf was the contractor. The hall was dedicated by Bishop Thomas Zinkula on November 19, 2017. It was named for parishioners Weir and Pat Sears who gave the first $1 million for the $7 million project.[29] The gathering space was named in honor of Antoine and Marguerite LeClaire. A new parking lot completed the project.

A tornado struck Davenport on October 6, 2016. It did some damage to the cathedral and the rectory. They were repaired, along with several other Catholic churches in the city, in the summer of 2017.[30] The original iron cross was replaced by a new aluminum, 24-karat, gold leaf cross. The new cross was replicated from the original by a company in Kentucky.[29] A new carillon was added to the tower at this time. The tower's original bell, cast for St. Margaret's in 1856, was removed, cleaned, and placed in front of the new hall's porte-cochere.