Adelaide City of Churches - the other cathedral, the Catholic one.

So now I come to the other cathedral, the older one, the Catholic one - dedicated to Saint Francis Xavier, patron of missionary countries, and patron to their first bishop, Francis Murphy (1844-1858)
Actually followers of this blog will know that the Catholic Cathedral is only older than the Anglican Cathedral by just a few years.
What mattered to me was that both cathedrals stand proud in their own territories, neither dwarfed by adjacent high rise blocks, which sadly is the fate of many of the churches I tracked down in this beautiful city.
And joy of joys, it was open! (7.30 am to 6.30 pm the website tells us - and that it is a busy church with several daily masses). And as a result there was a steady stream of people coming and going, lighting candles, kneeling in prayer, some just sitting quietly in their own space, meditating or simply taking in the atmosphere around them, perhaps seeking solace in the spirituality and peace of the place. Private times - meeting the needs of that moment - and what a church is all about after all!
Much of what is written here I found in the information leaflet I picked up at the door which warmly welcomed me and invited me to walk around and take photos if I wished. It just asked for mobile phones to be switched off, and for visitors not to walk around during a service. Actually I felt a wee bit intrusive taking photos anyway - and was very careful to move around very quietly and as unobtrusively as possible. The peace and spirituality of the place was palpable.
Work began on this lovely building in 1851, and it was so designed tht it could be put up in stages as money became available - a very practical plan.

But it all got off to a rocky start as the lure of the gold rush in Victoria was too much for the architect and most of the labour force who went to seek fortune elsewhere! In spite of such difficulties the first foundation stone was laid in 1856 and stage one of the cathedral was opened and blessed in 1858.
Work continued in stages and the tower was completed as recently as 1996, the whole cathedral dedicated on 11th July 1996 by Archbishop Faulkner. So perhaps that man on the road crossing (see previous blog) thought of this cathedral as the new one after all!?

Some things to look out for:

The octagonal font, and behind this the statue of St John the Baptist, both carved in Tuscany, Italy, in 1925.

 The doors going in to the central nave feature stained glass panels of coats of arms of various popes and bishops, and of the city of Adelaide, and other symbols representing the phoenix, pelican, Baptism and the Eucharist for example. 

Three beautiful stained glass windows dominating the chancel, showing significant events in the lives of Jesus and Mary.

The pulpit was carved by a South Australian wood carver W Price, and is dedicated to those who died in World War 1. It features grapes and vines, a 14th cntury design, symbolising the Eucharist.

This statue caught my eye before I even entered the cathedral. It is of Mary MacKillop, Australia's first saint, recognised for her pioneering work in education. The sculptor was J Rolovink.Isn't it lovely?

Then as I was walking back from visiting other churches - another day - another story or two to tell - I found this plaque on a rock in, I think, Hindmarsh Square. It commemorates the first mass for the Catholic community celebrated on South Australia soil on 13th June 1840, long before the building of the cathedral - an example of "church" as a body of Christian worshippers without the need for a building as such.

Adelaide City of Churches - the early pioneers

When is the first not the first?
Well it can depend on what we are talking about.
When can a church claim to begin? When a number of Christian believers get together to hold acts of worship, with or without a minister, ordained or otherwise? When the foundation stone of a building is laid? When a priest or other minister is appointed? When the completed building is consecrated and first used?

One of the first churches I visited on my pilgrimage in Adelaide South Australia was the Anglican Holy Trinity Church on North Terrace. And this claims to be Adelaide's First Church.
The office at the church gave me a good booklet, Holy Trinity Adelaide's Pioneer Church: A Brief History, by Brian Dickey, where I learnt that even before the proclamation of the new colony of South Australia (SA) in December 1836 the Church of England were keen to settle in or support this new colony. To this end in early February 1836 they had already appointed the Revd. Charles Beaumont Howard to be their first chaplain in SA. In June 1836 Howard set sail to what was to become SA with some of the official party on HMS Buffalo, and during the long passage he conducted many Sunday services, weddings and baptisms.

He was sworn in to his new role as first SA Anglican Chaplain on 28th December 1836, the date of the founding of the colony, and he conducted his first service on Australian soil on 1st January 1837, in the sandhills at Glenelg.
A prefabricated building sent over from England proved to be useless and the foundation stone of the first permanent Anglican church on SA soil was laid 26th January 1838.
For nearly a year Howard was apparently the only ordained clergyman in SA.
I may have uncovered just a wee bit of friendly rivalry in this business of who was first to stake out their religious patch in the new SA colony! Later I visited the Pilgrim Uniting Church in Flinders Street Adelaide, who proudly claim that their forebears were the first to hold religious services on South Australian soil, on Kangaroo Island, on 13th November 1836, by a local Methodist preacher. I shall write about that church in due course.

My pilgrimage around the churches of Adelaide has been hampered somewhat by the fact that so many are locked up during the week, only opening their doors for services and other events. But sometimes a call at the church office during their working hours was all  I needed to gain access, and I quickly  discovered that behind those closed doors there is often a vibrant, active and significant church membership. I was told that the Holy Trinity church attracts around a thousand worshippers on Sunday between its four services. That's a good number for a city church.

Holy Trinity Church overshadowed by road bridge!

I also found much to interest me in what are often very beautiful buildings worth a visit in their own right: beautiful stained glass windows, the carvings on marble fonts, the carpentry and moulding of pulpits, rood screens and so on.

Come on Australia, let the public see behind those doors and admire the treasures therein a little more often. In England many of our churches are open all day every day with just CCTV for protection, and of course the most mobile and valuable treasures are locked up and brought out only for services. Many of us feel that the small risk of loss or damage is far outweighed by the importance of keeping our churches always available for those who wish to find a quiet space for meditation or prayer, or even just to admire the architecture and all that is therein. An open church attracts people, and more people means greater security. A locked up church is a dead church all the while it is inaccessible. Just being open in office hours, with CCTV playing through to the office, would be surely a good start?

 

the Ten Commandments - as relevant now as when they were brought down from the mountain by Moses

Adelaide City of Churches

St Peter's Anglican Cathedral Adelaide

... as a friend told me when I said I was going to come here. So why is there so little readily available information about them? Indeed the only reference I could find in the Visitors' Guide to Adelaide which I picked up on arrival in the city was in the city map where just three churches are shown, the Catholic, Anglican and Greek Orthodox cathedrals. The Guide's Contents listing directs me to shopping, nightlife, arts and culture, attractions, events, markets, parks and gardens, and so on, but any mention of churches, even these three great cathedral buildings?  No!
This is a shame, because these cathedral churches alone offer much for the visitor to see and enjoy.
So why isn't Adelaide, City of Churches, directing its visitors to them?
I decided to dig deeper, and found a more detailed city map which helpfully shows twelve city churches, and even lists them. This was a good start! But it was only when I visited one of those listed did I find a little blue leaflet, which gives details of no less than 24 of the Christian churches of all denominations, and on the cover it says: "The Churches of Adelaide welcome you and invite you to their services." But it seems the visitor to this beautiful city is unlikely to find the churches unless he visits one!
And you don't have to attend any service, or even be a Christian, to appreciate much that these many churches can offer the visitor. 

Catholic Cathedral of Saint Francis Xavier

Armed with the list and the map, I embarked on a pilgrimage around all these holy places, and found many to be very well worth the visit, whether as tourist interested in the history and culture or simply appreciative of beautiful buildings; and whatever your faith, creed, religion, or spirituality. The first step on my pilgrimage was to attend a Sunday morning Eucharist at the Anglican Cathedral. That was a deeply spiritual experience for me and a good start! Divine music, with heavenly organ and choir and plenty of incense. And the post service hospitality for all was generous and friendly.

So I shall soon be starting a series here on Adelaide City of Churches, relating my experiences and hoping to put these buildings on the map again. I hope I shall thereby encourage visitors to go and see some of these buildings for themselves, whether as tourist or worshipper. And if you are far away from Australia I hope my photos and ramblings will still interest and inspire you:  perhaps to make your own pilgrimage to your own local churches, with an open mind to see what they have to offer.