Kansas
diocese dedicates first U.S. cathedral of new millennium
By David Myers
Southwest Kansas Register
DODGE CITY, Kan. -- More than 1,500 people joined in ceremonies
Dec. 9 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Diocese of Dodge
City and the dedication of the first cathedral constructed
in the United States in the new millennium.
The new Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Dodge City will
serve the largely rural diocese that occupies the southwest
quarter of Kansas.
Nearly two dozen bishops -- including Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo,
apostolic nuncio to the United States, and Cardinal Roger
M. Mahony of Los Angeles -- attended the dedication.
"A special time and a special place: that's what this
day is all about," Bishop Ronald M. Gilmore of Dodge
City told those gathered. "But isn't our God the Lord
of all the times and all the places? Doesn't our God fill
every last created thing? He is, indeed, such a Lord. There
is no place he is not."
Bishop Gilmore said the new cathedral will be "a privileged
place for God to dwell with his people. A place of music.
A place of poetry. A place of magic, even: working like a
concave mirror, drawing all the human corners of the diocese
into center, into one. This will be a place of prayer, wherein
we touch, and are touched by, that saving action."
The event was rich in symbolism -- from the handing of the
keys and blueprints to Bishop Gilmore at the beginning of
the dedication, to the turning on of the lights nearly halfway
through, signifying that the structure had officially become
a place of worship.
Archbishop Montalvo brought good wishes from Pope John Paul
II, who commended "the people of God in Dodge City to
the loving intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe."
Bishop Gilmore said the nuncio, a native of Colombia, "combines
the best of the Southern and Northern hemispheres and inspires
and challenges us to try to do the same in this diocese."
The new cathedral parish combines two former parishes -- Our
Lady of Guadalupe, which was mostly Hispanic, and Sacred Heart
Cathedral, which was mostly Anglo. The liturgy was celebrated
in Spanish and English, with some of it in Vietnamese.
During the dedication, Bishop Gilmore drew attention to the
symbolism of the ceremony.
"The door, the nuncio, the water, the word -- these symbols
vibrate with the saving life of God," he said following
a blessing of the pulpit. "Read them. Hear them. Know
them. The oil, the prayer, the incense, the light, the bread
and wine, the tabernacle -- these sacred signs tremble with
the saving power of God."
Prior to the prayer of dedication, Bishop Gilmore placed a
reliquary holding relics of the Twelve Apostles and four evangelists
under the altar. The bishop then anointed the altar with oil
-- pouring it on the center, each corner, and then rubbing
the oil to cover every inch -- making it a tangible symbol
of Christ.
The event was the culmination of nearly two years of physical
and spiritual preparation and perspiration.
In the year prior to the dedication, Bishop Gilmore led a
pilgrimage across the southwest Kansas diocese, praying and
meeting with parishioners from each parish, encouraging spiritual
renewal and unity during the jubilee year.
As the bishop made his way across Kansas, the $11 million
cathedral rose from what was a field of wheat on the outskirts
of Dodge City. The worship area seats more than 1,400 people,
and the site includes a daily Mass chapel, several shrines
and offices and a large social hall that was put to work following
the celebration.
At the dinner that followed, Cardinal Mahony, who will be
dedicating his own new cathedral, Our Lady of the Angels,
in Los Angeles in 2002, praised Bishop Gilmore for carrying
out his vision of a new cathedral.
"It takes a lot of courage to build a new cathedral because
almost everyone will say, 'We have the old one, what's wrong
with that?'" he said. "Well, nothing's wrong with
it. It's just that we are in a new moment -- a new fresh chapter
in the history of the diocese and it is time to do something
more grand for God's presence and to plan for the future as
Dodge City continues to grow."
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