The historic Baltimore Basilica, built from 1806-1821, was the first great metropolitan Cathedral constructed in America after the adoption of the Constitution. America’s first cathedral, officially known as the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, quickly became a symbol of the country’s newfound religious freedom.
Two prominent Americans guided the Basilica’s design and architecture: John Carroll, the country’s first bishop, later Archbishop of Baltimore, and cousin of Charles Carroll, who signed the Declaration of Independence, and Benjamin Henry Latrobe, father of American architecture and President Thomas Jefferson’s Architect of the Capitol.
For more than 100 years until the American Revolution, the Catholic Church consisted of a persecuted but devout minority. With the adoption of the new constitution, church leaders wanted to build a cathedral to celebrate their newly acquired right to worship openly. Bishop Carroll’s original vision of the cathedral adopted the forward-looking neoclassical architecture of the new federal city in Washington. He wanted an architectural symbol that was considered "American," not Gothic and reminiscent of the Dark Ages in Europe.
Learning of Bishop Carroll’s effort, Latrobe volunteered his architectural services. Jefferson’s insistence on skylights for the U.S. Capitol inspired Latrobe and his design for the Cathedral’s grand dome. The Basilica, which culminated years of architectural refinement by Latrobe, is now considered one of the world’s finest examples of 19th century architecture.
"When the Cathedral was first constructed, the only building that could compete with it in size, scale and architectural sophistication was the United States Capitol," said Jack G. Waite, Principal Architect with John G. Waite Associates, Architects. "Architecturally, it was the most advanced building in the country."
Situated majestically on a hill above Baltimore Harbor, the historic Basilica is the location of the country’s first archdiocese, from which two-thirds of U.S. Catholic dioceses can trace their heritage. Under its auspices also came a series of other firsts, including the first order of African-American nuns.
There will be ceremonies and speeches today, with Mass and the rededication of the altar tomorrow. Many other events this week, culminating in a procession of the US BIshops (they meet next week)
Sunday, November 12, 4:40 p.m.: Procession, Mass for U.S. Catholic Bishops
More than 200 American Catholic bishops will proceed from the Pratt Library across Cathedral Street to the Basilica for a mass. Cardinal Stafford will celebrate the mass commemorating the Basilica’s reopening with the bishops, who will be in Baltimore for a national meeting. Cardinal Keeler will deliver the homily. In 1906, the 100th anniversary of the laying of the Basilica’s cornerstone was observed with a Pontifical Mass celebrated by James Cardinal Gibbons and a similar procession of America’s bishops.
An article from earlier in the week from the Baltimore Sun
A very helpful graphic about the restoration
Earlier this week, George Weigel (a Baltimore native) wrote in USA Today:
We can thank two 19th-century men of genius for the Baltimore Basilica’s classic proportions and luminous interior. One, Archbishop John Carroll, was the first Roman Catholic bishop of the newborn USA; the other, Benjamin Henry Latrobe, was the foremost American architect of the day, a friend of Thomas Jefferson, and the first architect of the U.S. Capitol.
John Carroll (a cousin of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, Md., the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence) wanted the country’s first cathedral to speak in a distinctively American architectural idiom and to embody the Catholic commitment to the First Amendment’s guarantee of religious freedom.
So Carroll turned to Latrobe, the son of a Moravian pastor, and Latrobe (who likely consulted Jefferson)produced an American adaptation of classical design that deployed diffused light to express the freedom the human spirit must enjoy in its response to God. The result was a cathedral church whose stateliness and luminosity express a profound respect for what Pope John Paul II, who prayed in the Baltimore Basilica in October 1995, called “the sanctuary of conscience.”
The recently completed restoration of the building offers more than a reminder of the genius of the past, however; Carroll’s and Latrobe’s work has a special resonance for the present and the future. For to enter the restored Baltimore Basilica — a great American shrine to the centrality of religious freedom in any serious scheme of “human rights” — is to be confronted with two of the most crucial items on the world agenda today: The first — how do things stand with religious freedom? — is a question of particular, although not exclusive, interest to people of faith. The second — how does the human race engage its deepest differences (which are religious differences) with civility, tolerance and respect? — is a question for everyone.
Keeler also pointed to a $56 million capital campaign for Catholic Charities, which will open a new building for Our Daily Bread with expanded services in the spring. Its current building on Cathedral Street, next to the basilica’s main entrance, will be renovated for My Sister’s Place, the women and children’s shelter.
"The assumption is that if this [basilica] project did not exist, [donors] would immediately turn their dollars to Catholic schools or Catholic charities," Potter said.
Yet as of September, about 50 percent of the more than $26 million raised came from outside the Archdiocese Of Baltimore, in recognition of the basilica’s history and architecture, Potter said.
Contributions have also been coming from about 40 Catholic communities around the country, including $50,000 donations from two Florida dioceses – Orlando and Venice – and $100,000 from the Diocese of St. Petersburg, Fla. The Knights of Columbus, a national Catholic men’s group based in New Haven, Conn., and the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus, known as the Jesuits, have each given $1 million to the project. The Society of St. Sulpice, the religious order that started and operates St. Mary’s Seminary & University in Roland Park, donated $2 million.
Potter said the basilica drew donors attracted to its architectural merit and history. "The basilica parish could never have afforded to restore the basilica," he said. Parishioners of the basilica, which draws about 400 families from the Baltimore area, also pledged more than $500,000.
Still, some question the investment of energy on saving the basilica while at least 20 schools have closed or consolidated since 1997.
"They’re spending all this money on the building, but yet you have to think about the souls of the people you’re helping in the city," said Debbie Wyda of Towson.
The 57-year-old graduate of the former Mount St. Agnes High School in Mount Washington was angry when she read in 2001 that St. Alphonsus-Basilica School was closing – the same day she read that Pope John Paul II blessed the multimillion-dollar basilica project.
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