Almost three years ago, the Diocese of Knoxville broke ground on the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus at Northshore Drive. Clergy will bless and dedicate the new cathedral on March 3.
You can watch the blessing and dedication on the Diocese’s website, dioknox.org, at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, March 3. A Mass at 5 p.m. March 3 will be open to the public. Masses at the new cathedral on Sunday, March 4, will be held 7:30 a.m., 9 a.m., and 11 a.m. There will be a Spanish-speaking Mass at 1 p.m., and a Polish Mass at 3 p.m., led by Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz.
Detailed mosaics adorn the altar of sacrifice, made of Michelangelo Statuario marble from Italy.
Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz was the priest-secretary for the late Pope John Paul II for more than 40 years and was later Archbishop of Krakow, Poland. He will join with other prominent visiting Catholic prelates and with Bishop Richard F. Stika for Conversation with the Cardinals, Sunday, March 4, at 7 p.m. This event is free and open to the public but will not be broadcast online.
The original Sacred Heart Cathedral was built as a parish church in 1956 and was effectively outgrown decades ago. Worship space for the parish families will grow from about 7,500 square feet to 20,000 square feet in the new cathedral. The old space will be converted to use as a fellowship hall.
Carved dogwood flowers grace the pews, crafted from cherry-stained white oak by New Holland Church Furniture.
The budget for the new cathedral was $25 million, and estimated final costs topped $30 million. Funds were raised as part of the Diocese’s “Home Campaign,” which also raised money for charitable initiatives, priest retirement funds, educational needs, and more. Major donors also made contributions to the building fund.
The church was designed by James McCrery Architects of Washington, D.C., and BarberMcMurry in Knoxville. It was built by Merit Construction with the help of dozens of artisans and subcontractors.
Bishop Stika has said the goal of the design of the cathedral is to appear “timeless.”
Highlights of the new space include interior dome frescoes by EverGreene Architectural Arts of New York. The construction arts studio was among the artisans who worked on the restoration of the Tennessee Theatre.
The striking interior dome highlights frescoes by New York-based EverGreene Architectural Arts.