OPENING OF A ROMAN CATHOLIC CATHEDRAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7562, 15 February 1886, Page 5

OPENING OF A ROMAN CATHOLIC CATHEDRAL.

IBS - TELEGRAPH.—PRESS ASSOCIATION.]

Dunklin, Sunday. St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Cathedral was opened to-day with a most imposing ceremonial. The morning was misty and drizzling, but long before the appointed hour the streets in front of the cathedral were packed. A little before eleven the Catholic school children marched in procession to the cathedral. The boys of St. Joseph's Christian Brothers' School wore badges of green, red, and blue, and the girls' of St. Joseph's and the Convent School were dressed in white, with cardinal sashes or all cardinal, and wearing wreaths and veils, and carrying bouquets. They .were arranged in two rows, extending from Bishop Moran's house to the cathedral gate, forming a lane for the cardinal to walk through. Then came a procession of priests, bishops, and cardinal. It was headed by an altar boy carrying incense, then the cross, twenty-one altar boys in white and mauve, sixteen priests, one archdeacon, five bishops, the cardinal (with two boys carrying his train), and his chaplain and secretary. As His Eminence marched, through the lane of boy* and girls the latter strewed his path with flowers, so that from the Bishop's gate to the cathedral gate he literally walked on flowers. The crowd of spectators was very large indeed. As His Eminence neared the gate the choircomprising sixty voiocs and several instrumentalistssang the Church's song of welcome, "Behold the High Priest!" Pontificial high mass was . then celebrated by the Bishop of Adelaide.- His Eminence then preached the dedication sermon, in which he traced the . rise .of the Catholic Church from the time the Saviour gave his charge to the Apostle Peter "On this Rock I will build my Church." He said these thoughts were suggested by viewing the beautiful edifice raised by the exertions of the faithful in Dunedin, which would be a monument to future generations. After pointing out how the Catholic Church had continued as a beacon and a testimony of the truth of how no power had prevailed against it, he concluded by referring to Bishop Moran, who had, previously to . coming to this fair laud of the South, laboured in South Africa. Since his arrival here all knew of his services, and the building they had dedicated was One of the fruits of his labour. After the benediction His Eminence, preceded by the bishops and priests, returned to the Bishop's house. There must have been considerably over • 2000 in the church. At the service this evening, after vespers, Bishop Redwood" will preach. To-morrow the Cardinal inspects the girls' > school. That portion of • the - cathedral dedicated to-day is only a Wing of _ the complete design. . Even that. portion , opened is not quite completed. Several of the stained glass windows will not arrivo till Easter, and a large amount, ot interior decorative work remains to be done. What is completed has a very chaste and beautiful appearance. ' Up to the present the building has cost £20,000. Cardinal Moran held a reception yesterday, k at which large numbers attended. tie may probably give a temperance lecture on his return from the North. .. . . , . . - ... If The amount realised by the Opening of the cathedral will be about £2000. The offertory amounted to over £400. %