St. Mary's Cathedral
BUILT
Governor Macquarie laid the foundation stone in October 1821.
RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION/DENOMINATION
St Mary's Cathedral is the seat of the Archbishop of Sydney and the mother diocese of Australia.
INTERESTING FACTS
Located beneath the nave, the Crypt, last resting-place of the deceased Archbishops of Sydney, is notable for the beautiful terrazzo mosaic floor, depicting the story of the Creation, and symbolic titles of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The original High Altar and screen, and the altars in the chapels of the Sacred Heart, St Joseph, Our Lady and St Peter, were designed by Wardell and constructed of New Zealand Oamaru stone.
In 2008, St Mary's Cathedral became the focus of World Youth Day 2008 and was visited by Pope Benedict XVI who, in his homily on 19 July, made the historic full apology for child sex abuse by Catholic priests in Australia, of whom 107 have been committed by the courts.
In the western transept is a marble replica of Michelangelo's Pietà, the original of which is in St. Peter's Basilica, Rome. This sculpture was brought to Australia for display in David Jones Ltd. department store and was later donated to the cathedral.
GALLERY
360˚ Photo
Exterior
INTERIOR
ORGAN
TREASURES
CREDITS
All media by Luke Cabading.
SOURCES
St Mary's Cathedral Sydney. (2019). St Mary's Cathedral Sydney. [online] Available at: https://www.stmaryscathedral.org.au/about-us/ [Accessed 24 Dec. 2019].
En.wikipedia.org. (2019). St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Mary%27s_Cathedral,_Sydney [Accessed 24 Dec. 2019].
Google News. (2008). Pope apologises for 'evil' of child sex abuse. [online] Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20140112181810/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jtGYmNq72j_-TNnXfLbSdMgiTPMQ?hl=en [Accessed 24 Dec. 2019].