St. Bernard Catholic Church (Madison, Wisconsin)

On October 1, 1907, Archbishop Sebastian Messmer of Milwaukee sent the Rev. John Fisher to Madison to establish a parish on the city's east side.[1] The first Mass was celebrated in a neighborhood home on November 10, 1907. Masses continued to be celebrated there until the Fair Oaks Town Hall was completed in early 1908, and they were transferred there. A combination church and school building, and a rectory were completed in 1910. The Racine Dominican Sisters taught in the school.

The current church building was completed during the pastorate of the Msgr. William Eggers, who would serve the parish for 30 years.[1] The Gothic Revival and sandstone structure was designed by Madison architect John Flad. It was the city's largest Catholic Church at the time.[2] When the Diocese of Madison was established in 1946, St. Bernard's was its largest parish.[1] Growth in the 1950s saw Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish created from St. Bernard's, and St. Bernard's built a new school building to accommodate the rising number of students. The increased numbers were short lived, however, as the school closed in 1970.

In 1978, the parish's pastor, Msgr. George Wirz was ordained Auxiliary Bishop of Madison. The parish offices were moved from the rectory to the school building in 1993.

On March 14, 2005, St. Raphael's Cathedral was destroyed by an arsonist. For the next 18 years the diocese would be without a cathedral.[3] It used parish churches for diocesan celebrations while deciding how to replace St. Raphael's.

In December 2022, Bishop Donald Hying outlined three proposals to settle the cathedral question as part of the Into the Deep strategic planning process for the diocese: build a new cathedral on the St. Raphael site, maintain the current status quo of no cathedral while utilizing facilities of the diocese for diocesan events, and elevate an existing parish church for the cathedral.[4] He rejected building a new cathedral as too expensive, and the status quo as undesirable. In January 2023, the bishop proposed that he petition the Holy See to name St. Bernard's Church as the diocesan cathedral. This would require less of a financial burden and the plan could be accomplished with a small capital campaign to raise the necessary funds.[5] A petition to name St. Bernard's as the cathedral has subsequently been submitted to the Holy See for its approval.[3]

After the cathedral petition was submitted, the parish began a large renovation project to make the church more suitable for function as a cathedral and restore the building. On August 15, 2023, the community celebrated its final Mass in the church itself before moving to the former school's gymnasium.[6]

On September 11, 2023, the Apostolic Nunciature in Washington, D.C. alerted the Diocese of Madison that Pope Francis erected St. Bernard's as the new cathedral. The Dicastery for Bishops will issue an official decree of erection at a future date.[7]

The following priests have served St. Bernard's as its pastor:[1]

• Rev. John Fisher, 1907–1908
• Rev. John Bach, 1908–1916
• Rev. Loughney, 1916–1925
• Msgr. William Eggers, 1925–1960
• Msgr. Theodore Thome, 1960–1974
• Msgr./Bishop George Wirz, 1974–1984
• Msgr. John Hebl, 1984–1993
• Msgr. Michael Hippee, 1993–2013
• Rev. Michael Radowicz, 2013– present

• Interior of the church before the 2023 renovations
• 
  Holy Week 2022
• 
  Altar
• 
  Right-hand windows
• 
  Left-hand windows

• Parish website
• Diocese of Madison website