St Patrick's Cathedral, Auckland

Story

The Cathedral of St Patrick and St Joseph is the Cathedral of the Catholic Bishop of Auckland. It is situated on the corner of Federal Street and Wyndham St in Central Auckland, New Zealand.MassesThe normal Mass times are: Sunday, 8am, 11am, 4.30pm & 7pm; Monday to Friday, 7 am & 12.15 pm; Public Holidays and Saturdays, 8.30am.OriginsIt is on the original site granted by the Crown to Jean Baptiste Pompallier, the first Bishop, on 1 June 1841. To minister to the 300 or 400, mostly Irish, Catholics in Auckland in the 1840s, a wooden chapel, clergy house and school room (the first amenity ready for use) were opened and blessed on 29 January 1843. Work soon began on a more permanent church. In 1845, the Australian architect Walter Robinson arrived in Auckland on the encouragement of Pompallier and he was commissioned to design a stone church. The new church was built on the original grant of land and situated on the corner of Chapel Street (now Federal Street) and Wyndham St.CathedralAt first referred to as a chapel, and then a church, St Patrick's became the Catholic Cathedral when Auckland was made a diocese in 1848 and when Pompallier, after a visit to France and Rome, returned to Auckland in April 1850, and made the city his headquarters. This simple, plain church, seating 700, was built of locally quarried hammered scoria and had a very substantial appearance similar to others designed by Walter Robinson at this time.ExpansionOn 4 May 1884, the foundation stone of a new nave was laid, and the old stone church became the transept, the altar, for which a recess was built in 1895, being on the east wall. The architect for this major addition was Edward Mahoney. Between 1884 and 1885, the nave was extended according to Edward's scheme. The nave had a tower, and the bells for this were brought from Rome. The organ was brought from Brompton Oratory, London for £600. The new addition was opened on 15 March 1885 by Archbishop Redwood, the Archbishop of Wellington.