Have you ever been asked why a church is called a cathedral? Common responses include references to a church's beauty, architecture, size and liturgical style. The simple answer is that the cathedral is the church of the bishop. But as with many things in the Catholic Church, there is a rich history.
The evolution of one church in a designated territory or diocese as the cathedral finds its beginnings in the fourth century with the construction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and St. John Lateran in Rome. These two churches were initially referred to as “mater omnium ecclesiarum” or “mother of all churches.” St. John Lateran, or simply as “the Lateran,'' was gifted by Emperor Constantine to the Church sometime in or after the year 313. In 324, Pope Sylvester I formally dedicated the Lateran as a place of worship, placing the cathedra of the Bishop of Rome inside of it.
Eventually, the name evolved to be “ecclesia matrix,” meaning mother church or just “major,” which is still currently used in some areas of Europe today. This name is based on the fact that the church hosts the synods which bring together those priests serving the churches in the dioceses around their bishop. The authority of a church to be designated an “ecclesia matrix” was based on its seniority and sanctity of the memories that were accumulated there.
Cathedral means “house of the seat” and became the universal designation within the Roman Catholic Church around the 12th century for the church that housed the cathedra, or bishop’s seat/throne. It is the presence of the bishop's cathedra in a church that makes it a cathedral. Historically, chairs have been used as a symbol of authority and teaching. The bishop's chair is a symbol of the bishop's teaching office and pastoral power in his diocese. It is also a sign of the unity of believers in the faith that the bishop proclaims as shepherd of the Lord's flock.
Sometimes, you will hear of churches referred to as basilicas, like the Basilica of St. Peter at the Vatican City. So, are basilicas and cathedrals the same thing? A basilica is a different designation from a cathedral, although some cathedrals are basilicas, such as the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. A basilica is a church that is given a special honorific designation by the pontiff. Generally, the honorific designation of basilica is bestowed based on the church’s historical or its artistic merit. Basilicas have a few special privileges attached to them, such as a special bell called a tintinnabulum and a special red and yellow umbrellino (umbrella), which bears the coats of arms of the pope, diocesan bishop and others historically connected to the particular basilica. Almost all basilicas are termed minor basilicas. There are only four major basilicas, one in the Vatican City-State and three in Rome: St. Peter’s in the Vatican, St. John Lateran, St. Paul’s Outside the Walls and St. Mary Major. The Lateran has the distinction of being an archbasilica because it is the oldest of the four major basilicas.
Once a diocese is erected and the seat established, may the cathedral change locations? Very often, the apostolic letters by which a new diocese is erected expressly designate the cathedral church, however, usually in the United States the episcopal city is being named and the bishop is free to select his church within the named city. Once the city is named and the church is chosen, the transfer of a cathedral can occur in two ways:
First, the bishop’s residence may be moved from one city to another within the same diocese, in which event the cathedral also would have to be changed; such a transfer would require the bishop to request the change in a letter to the Holy See and the Holy See to grant permission since it created the diocese and assigned the bishop his first residence.
Second, the cathedral may be transferred from one church to another within the same city, either to a church already in use or to one built specially for the purpose. This kind of transfer requires no authorization from the Holy See. This also presupposes reasonable motives, e.g., inadequate size of the church, unhealthy or inconvenient location, etc.
The history of the Diocese of Grand Island demonstrates how the seat of the diocese may be moved at the request of the bishop and the intervention of the Holy See. Originally, the diocesan seat was erected in Kearney at the original St. James Church on March 8, 1912, and Bishop James Duffy was appointed to the seat. Several years later, though, Bishop Duffy wrote to the Holy See and requested that the Diocese of Kearney relocate to Grand Island. The Holy See granted permission and Grand Island became the official seat of the diocese on April 11, 1917, with the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary being constructed as the place to house the seat of the bishop.