Pope Leo XIV has named St Mary’s Pro Cathedral in Dublin as the city’s formal Catholic Cathedral, marking the first time the capital has had one in five centuries.
Situated on Marlborough Street, the cathedral was completed in 1825 as a provisional solution, with the intention that a purpose-built cathedral would eventually replace it, reports RTE.
The term ‘Pro’ refers to Pro Tempore – meaning temporary – and part of the new designation involves removing it, so the cathedral will now be called simply St Mary’s.
The request for this status was put to Pope Leo as the cathedral celebrates its 200th anniversary, reports RTE.
The cathedral has “major plans” for refurbishment after securing planning approval from Dublin City Council.
The absence of a Catholic cathedral dates back to the Reformation. Prior to that, Christ Church served Catholics, but when Protestants separated from Rome, both Christ Church and St Patrick’s cathedral were transferred to the Church of Ireland, reports RTE.
It took 300 years before Catholics received their temporary cathedral, with St Mary’s construction finishing in 1825.
Its designation remained one of the unresolved legacies of the Reformation that has shaped Dublin for half a millennium, reports RTE.
Dublin’s Catholic community has been without a permanent cathedral throughout that entire period, following the rise of Protestantism and the enforcement of the Penal Laws.
St Mary’s crypt contains the remains of nearly 1,000 individuals, including former archbishops, notable Catholic figures such as members of the Corballis and Sweetman families, along with local residents, reports RTE.
The most significant event held there was the 1922 funeral of Michael Collins. It also hosted the funeral of Fenian Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa, as well as State funerals for former presidents.
Pope Francis made a specific request to visit the cathedral during the 9th World Meeting of Families in August 2018, reports RTE.
The Archbishop of Dublin shared the news during his homily at today’s bicentenary mass held on the Feast of St Laurence O’Toole.
Dermot Farrell told those gathered that it was with “great joy” that Pope Leo agreed to his petition and officially named St Mary’s as the Cathedral Church for the Archdiocese, reports RTE.
Speaking afterwards, he described it as a “big transition”, and said it was “very important” for Dublin to finally have a formal, permanent Catholic Cathedral.
“The fact that we are making this cathedral the centre of the archdiocese of Dublin, the mother church of Dublin in one of the poorest areas of Dublin, I think that’s significant,”, reports RTE.
He also noted that parishioners are unlikely to notice major changes, though adjusting to the removal of ‘Pro’ may take some time.
“It’s always been known as the Pro, and you know, that would be hard to move to just calling it St Mary’s Cathedral rather than the Pro cathedral. But you know, it’s been called the Pro for 200 years, so I don’t expect it to change overnight,”, reports RTE.
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