A Cathedral Parish

Because the old St. Mary's Church was deemed inadequate to serve as a cathedral, a new one would have to be built. Bishop James A. Duffy spent months in traveling to study building styles before deciding on Gothic architecture - noted for the pointed arch, the traceried window, buttresses, spires, pinnacles and internally, the ribbed-groined vault. Work was begun on the present cathedral church in 1926 and finished in 1928. Cardinal Patrick Hayes of New York City presided at the dedication ceremonies on July 5 in the same year.

Even with the new cathedral done, there were still problems of overcrowding. Though people laughed when it was first built and said that the cathedral would be too big, the numbers of families attending St. Mary's had grown to more than 800, while the capacity of the cathedral was 900 persons. In the spring of 1949, it was decided to form a new parish, Blessed Sacrament, on the north side of the city.

Considering the needs of the cathedral parish, two residences north of the school were purchased, giving the parish ownership of the entire block. In 1951, the present rectory was completed on the site of the former convent. The old rectory on First Street and the two residences to the east became the new convent. The present convent building was blessed by Bishop John. L. Paschang on September 3, 1967, the year that the diocese celebrated its 55th anniversary.

Grand Island Central Catholic High School was a joint project between St. Mary's and Blessed Sacrament parishes. Having the capacity of 700 students, Central Catholic was started in the fall of 1955 and was ready for use for the fall term of 1956. Besides the high school grades, this building housed the eighth grades from both St. Mary's and Blessed Sacrament parishes. Students from surrounding parishes were also enrolled at Central Catholic, with the largest number from St. Libory.