Sacred Heart Cathedral (Knoxville, Tennessee)

Sacred Heart Cathedral
35°55′33.07″N 84°0′3.88″W / 35.9258528°N 84.0010778°W / 35.9258528; -84.0010778
Location 711 S. Northshore Dr.
Knoxville, Tennessee
Country United States
Denomination Roman Catholic Church
Website www.shcathedral.org
History
Founded 1956
Architecture
Architect(s) Baumann and Baumann
Style Modern
Completed 1956
Specifications
Materials Brick
Administration
Diocese Knoxville
Clergy
Bishop(s) Most Rev. Richard Stika
Rector Rev. David Boettner

Sacred Heart Cathedral is a cathedral church located in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. It is the seat of the Catholic Diocese of Knoxville.

History

Sacred Heart Parish

Sacred Heart Parish can trace its history back to 1952 when Bishop William Adrian of Nashville; the Rev. Joseph P. Follman, V.F., Dean of East Tennessee; and the Rev. Christopher P. Murray, Pastor of the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Knoxville determined that Knoxville needed a third Catholic parish. Land was purchased in Bearden the following year for $25,000.[1] The Rev. Edward Dolan replaced Father Murray as Immaculate Conception’s pastor in 1955. He started to negotiate with Baumann and Baumann Architects and Emory and Richards General Contractors to build a church, school, rectory, and convent for $1 million.[1] The parish was officially established on January 1, 1956 with 199 families.[1] Father Dolan was appointed the parish’s first pastor and served the parish until 1972. He initially made his residence in one of the finished rooms of the school building on July 18, 1956. Sacred Heart School opened on September 4, 1956, with an enrollment of 132 students and 5 faculty members.[1] The rectory was completed in November of the same year. The first Mass celebrated in the new church was Midnight Mass on Christmas, 1956.

The Rev. Joseph Julius served Sacred Heart as pastor from 1972 to 1981. The parish had grown to over 1,000 families by this time.[1] A gymnasium, new classrooms in the school and a school library were built during this time. St. John Neumann Parish was established in Farragut and took some parishioners from Sacred Heart. Further expansion of the physical plant was accomplished during the Rev. Robert Hofstetter’s pastorate from 1981 until 1987. Additions included kindergarten, science labs, computer labs, an art department, and other modifications.

Cathedral interior

Sacred Heart Cathedral

The Rev. Xavier Mankel was named pastor in 1987. The following year on May 27[2] Blessed John Paul II established the Diocese of Knoxville and Sacred Heart became the new diocese’s cathedral.[3]

All Saints Parish, which included parts of Sacred Heart, was established in September 1994. The Rev. Al Humbrecht was named pastor in 1997. In 1999 he was named the Diocesan Administrator after Bishop Anthony O'Connell was transferred to the Diocese of Palm Beach. The Rev. David Boettner was named the pastor and cathedral rector in 2010. At the time there were 1,411 families in the parish[1] The parish community has grown to 1,600 families as of June 2016. Sacred Heart Cathedral School enrollment averages 700 Preschool through 8th grade students yearly. [1]

New Cathedral

New Cathedral building under construction in September 2016

The new Cathedral is under construction in front of the existing church. Architects of record are BarberMcMurry Architects and ecclesiastical architect James McCrery in Washington, D.C. The projected costs of the new facility is $25 million.[4] Groundbreaking was held on April 19, 2015 with a completion in 2017. Seating capacity will increase to about 1,000 and increase the worship space for the church to 20,000 square feet.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "History". Sacred Heart Cathedral.
  2. ↑ "Diocese of Knoxville". Catholic-Hierarchy. Retrieved 2011-09-08.
  3. ↑ "Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Jesus". GCatholic. Retrieved 2011-09-08.
  4. ↑ "Home: Where we Worship, Teach & Serve". A Campaign for Sacred Heart Cathedral. Retrieved 2014-09-25.

Coordinates: 35°55′33″N 84°00′00″W / 35.925852°N 84°W / 35.925852; -84 (Sacred Heart Cathedral, Knoxville)

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