Cathedral History

March 17, 1903, the ground was broken for the first Catholic Church in Amarillo: Sacred Heart Catholic Church. The plain white frame wood church was located on North Polk Street between the Rock Island Railroad depot and St. Anthony’s Sanatorium Hospital. In the spring of 1916, the ground was broken for a new church to be built on two lots of land at 9th Street and Taylor in downtown Amarillo. The purchase price of the property was $5,000. Over the next seven years, funds were raised to complete the building project at the cost of $18,000. The new Sacred Heart Church on Taylor was dedicated on April 13, 1918. The small white frame church was then moved to the Mexican-American barrio on the corner of Cleveland Street and 11th and became the first church for the Our Lady of Guadalupe faith family.

April 28, 1927, brought the installation of Bishop Rudolph Gerken as the first ordinary of the newly created Diocese of Amarillo and the elevation of Sacred Heart Church to the status of the Cathedral Church. In 1937, the Cathedral Hall was built on the property of St. Mary’s Academy. The dedication cornerstone for Cathedral Hall 1937 is now located in the north wall of the entrance walkway of the present St. Mary’s Cathedral gathering area. Cathedral Hall stood until 2002-2003, when the present St. Mary’s Monsignor Smyer Activity Center was built and completed.

On Washington Street at the 1100 numbered block stood the Stuart House, which served as the first Chancery Office for the Diocese of Amarillo. The Stuart House remained as the Chancery until 1953, when the present Chancery Office was built by Bishop Laurence Fitzsimon and then continued on as the parish house for priests in residence. By 1944, the Diocese of Amarillo, under the patronage of Sacred Heart Cathedral, purchased St. Mary’s Catholic Academy School from the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, making it the Cathedral School. The purchase price of the school was $85,000.

In 1947, the Diocese purchased an air force base chapel that was moved to the St. Mary’s Academy property to become a chapel of convenience for the downtown Cathedral, allowing it to stretch and room. In 1950, Sacred Heart Cathedral built a new convent for the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, still teaching at St. Mary’s Academy. The dedication plaque reads Monsignor John Steinlage, Pastor of Sacred Heart Cathedral. The convent was built to house thirty religious women. Presently, the former convent is used as the parish office and ministry center and the parish house for priests in residence. Finally, in 1959, St. Mary’s itself emerged as an independent entity from Sacred Heart Cathedral and was created as a parish assuming the territorial boundaries of its mother church, the Cathedral.

When I came to the Diocese of Amarillo in 1967 from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and attended a liturgy at Sacred Heart Cathedral, I was surprised at the size of the small church. The Cathedral in Milwaukee is an imposing church structure. Sacred Heart Cathedral, at capacity, would seat 350 people, which gave reason and sense as to why a chapel of convenience was placed on St. Mary’s property for room to stretch and accommodate. I also remember that the church was in much need of repair, and work and attendance had dwindled. Directly to the north of Sacred Heart Cathedral was a large, spacious red brick rectory that housed the priests of the Cathedral Church. I also remember to the south of the Cathedral Church was a small structure that housed the Catholic Welfare Bureau, which would later become Catholic Family Services.

When the decision was made to take down Sacred Heart
Cathedral, the largest parish church at the time in 1974 was St. Laurence Church which seated 500 people. The parish churches at the time were Our Lady of Guadalupe with seating for 300, St. Mary’s with seating for 300, St. Joseph’s with seating for 300, St. Martin’s with seating for 150, St. Hyacinth’s with seating for 300, and Blessed Sacrament with seating for 250. It made sense. Monsignor Francis Smyer, long-term pastor of St. Mary’s Church (1970-2001) and former Chancellor of the Diocese and associate pastor of Sacred Heart Cathedral, was known for collecting books and reading them. He was also a collector of things that would be taken out of the old cathedral church prior to demolition. All these “treasures” were carefully stored away at St. Mary’s with great care. It would only become known to me when Monsignor Smyer died and Sister Rosemary Ruefner OSB, his pastoral associate, returned for his funeral and showed me the scope of his “treasure” that I realized what we had in hand.

The fire of February 26, 2007, that razed the 1981 St. Mary’s Church and took it to the ground became the catalyst to rebuild and redefine St. Mary’s. Incorporating the past with the new and finally putting to rest the soul of Sacred Heart Cathedral within its daughter church, St. Mary’s Church.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus window in the internal wall of the bell tower, flanked by the circular windows of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary, hang as they did in the old cathedral church behind the main altar. The rose window in the ceiling over the tabernacle was made and put together from the remaining pieces of glass from other windows damaged prior to the demolition of the downtown church. The rebuilt sanctuary windows are by Conrad Schmidt Studios of Milwaukee, who built the original windows for the downtown church using the original plans and designs of 1918. The Bethlehem angel window and Easter Sunday Resurrection angel window in the north gathering area were the first windows in the sanctuary of the old downtown church on the north and south walls. The Garden of Gethsemane window in St. Mary’s Adoration and daily Mass Chapel was once the window over the front door of Sacred Heart Cathedral. The altar stones of the main altar and two side altars of Sacred Heart Cathedral are set within the new altar of St. Mary’s Cathedral Church. Rome authenticates the relics as St. Thomas Aquinas, St. John Marie Vianney, and St. Pope Pius X. The windows of the Monsignor Smyer Reception room were the side windows of the old downtown cathedral church.

There are two carved wood angels in the Adoration Chapel. Ite ad Joseph, ora pro nobis; Go to Joseph, pray for us…and Ave Maria, gratia plena, Hail Mary, full of grace…which came from Sacred Heart’s side altars. The altar of sacrifice in the daily Mass chapel was one of the side altars of the old downtown church. In the Reliquary behind the church's tabernacle are twenty-five precious relics of beatified and canonized saints of the Church. Religious tapestries from Taos, New Mexico, are original artwork hanging in the church, each requiring 4000 hours of hand stitching. The Baptismal pool is made of bronze and is an original work of art from South Texas. The water feature holds one hundred fifty gallons of constantly running, circulating water that falls into the pool. Steps lead down into the water for the immersion of baptismal candidates. On the east exterior façade of the church is a brick sculpture of the Virgin Mary with the Christ Child…an original piece of are designed and executed for St. Mary’s Church coming from Nebraska. This work has become the signature piece of the new church.

After the fire and demolition of the 1981 St. Mary’s Church, Bishop John Yanta re-read the parish's history and then recognized the connection between Sacred Heart and St. Mary’s. Bishop Yanta felt that he had a canonical opinion that would support his request to Rome of naming St. Mary’s new church a co-cathedral. Because of Bishop Yanta’s retirement at the age of 75, that was not affected. Bishop Patrick Zurek became the next ordinary of the diocese, and it became clear that he had an appreciation for the new St. Mary’s Church. He mentioned the possibility that it could and should become the Cathedral. The diocese priests spoke openly at meetings with Bishop Zurek about what they would prefer as the cathedral…that being St. Mary’s. Bishop Zurek sought counsel from the Metropolitan Archbishop Jose Gomez of San Antonio, who approved and wrote his votum in favor. From that point, conversations were held with the Franciscan priests who pastor the present St. Laurence Church. Under the direction of Father Gabriel Cardiel OFM, the Franciscan priests, in consultation with their community in Guadalajara, wrote Bishop Zurek that the Franciscan fathers would like to remain in parish ministry in the diocese but preferred that the Cathedral Church be returned to the pastoral governance of diocesan clergy. From there, the Presbyteral Council was consulted, and all the members gave their assent to the change. Bishop Zurek then wrote the Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Pietro Sambi in Washington D.C. with the historical data. He built the case for the change, which was then sent on to The Congregation of Bishops in Rome, from which a swift response in the affirmative was received, signed by Him Eminence Marc Cardinal Ouellet, Prefect. The date for the proclamation of St. Mary’s Cathedral was chosen as March 25, 2011, the Feast of the Annunciation, “Rejoice O Highly Favored Daughter of Israel.”

Why St. Mary’s as the Cathedral Church?

Simply put, St. Mary’s has all the essential elements of what a Cathedral should be composed of: A large substantial church, the oldest functioning Catholic School in the Diocese with 220 boys and girls, a full and rich Faith Formation program for all ages, but most of all, for adults, a Catechumenate process structured according to The Forum, Youth Ministry and a free-standing youth center with Life Teen and EDGE, Liturgical music rich and full…an organ with 1200 pipes and trumpets valued at $900,000, traditional music as well as contemporary, 24/7 Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, outreach to the inner city and a true sense of responsibility for the poor and disadvantaged of the inner city, the St. Vincent de Paul Society, the oldest Knights of Columbus Council in the diocese (Council 1450), Council of Catholic Women, Stephen Ministry, Charismatic Renewal, Lay Ecclesial Movements, RENEW, and Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.