About the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Kansas City, Missouri:
In 1833, a French missionary, Father Benedict Roux, arrived in Kansas City with instructions to form a permanent parish. At 11th and Broadway, the community built a log cabin church in 1835, and named it St. John Francis Regis.
Father Bernard Donnelly was a circuit-riding priest. From 1845 until his death in 1880, Donnelly tirelessly served the local Catholic people. He initiated the building of a permanent brick church on the site in 1857. Donnelly recruited 300 Irish day laborers to cut away the bluffs, level the ground and establish a brick works. The brick yard produced building material for the church that Donnelly consecrated Immaculate Conception. Find a more complete history of Fr. Donnelly and the building of the cathedral here.
As the population grew, dioceses formed in St. Joseph in 1868 and in Kansas City in 1880. When Bishop John Joseph Hogan arrived in 1880, he selected Donnelly’s church to become the Cathedral. Some 10,000 people witnessed the laying of the cornerstone in 1882.
Ready for services on Trinity Sunday, 1883, the walls were not yet plastered, and temporary windows hurriedly were set into place. Newspapers reported that over 3,000 people attended the services that began at 10:30 a.m. and continued uninterrupted until 3:00 p.m.
Because the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception was built on the highest ground in the city, at 250 feet above street level, the cupola quickly became a civic landmark. When the Cathedral opened it was the tallest building in Kansas City, Missouri. Tickets were sold to persons wishing to ascend the staircase to see the view.
On December 8, 1895, a carillon of 11 bells was installed in the Cathedral tower. The bells are named after saints: St. Anna, St. Bernard, St. Catherine, St. Cecilia, St. Edward, St. Elizabeth, St. Helen, St. John, St. Mary and St. Thomas. The largest and most often rung bell is St. Thomas.
In 1912, stained glass windows crafted by local artisans at the Kansas City Stained Glass Works Company. During the 1920’s and 1930’s the Cathedral Choir reached a level of excellence. It wasn’t unusual for their special concerts at the Grand Theater to have a standing room only crowd.
In 1955, Bishop Edwin V. O’Hara authorized a renovation of the Cathedral which included the interior and the Cathedral’s copper dome. In 1960, the dome, cupola and cross were covered with 23-carat gold leaf.
The newly restored and renovated Cathedral was dedicated on Saturday, February 22, 2003.
Traveling to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Kansas City, Missouri:
Address: 11th & Broadway, Kansas City, MO 64105
Phone: +1 816-842-0416 x110
Click here for the official website of Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Kansas City, Missouri
Note: Two blocks south of the Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception is the Episcopal Cathedral, Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral.